Lies
by Anna Sai
Summary: As Team Voltron is accompanied by the crew of the Atlas, they find they have a long way to go before they can officially reestablish themselves. Each one of them is busy with his/her own area of expertise; so busy, in fact, that they don't realize that Lance has been missing for almost a month. (heavy on the Langst...you've been warned)
1. Chapter 1

Atlas was large, but smooth. Like a well built submarine cutting through the water, Atlas made its way out into deep space.

The ship wasn't as full as it had been when they were carrying and protecting most of the worlds population, but it was still a thriving hub of activity as systems were checked, pods and jets were maintained, and drills and classes were taught.

The garrison had moved their senior most students to the Atlas for "on field training". The paladins were asked every once in a while to help teach them fighting tactics and overall space safety.

They had contacted the Olkari and many other planets in the Voltron coalition. Everyone exchanged their stories and where they should go from there. However, one thing was for certain, the Atlas needed to be outfitted with a teledove. Without one they wouldn't be able to answer calls for aid in any amount of decent time to help. It would be a long time before they'd be able to travel to the Olkaris, but they thought they could pick up the materials they would need on the way. They estimated it would take almost two years.

Keith suggested the lions go ahead of Atlas and perhaps bring back materials so they would get everything started. That idea was turned down by the Olkaris themselves. They thought it would be best to start from the beginning while they were all safely on the ground.

So the paladins, and Coran, were dispersed throughout the ship to work where they would fit best. Keith and Allura helped out Shiro and Iverson run the ship. Lance was assigned to Hangar 1. Hunk lead the engineering teams and Pidge worked with raido control and the other techs. Out of all of them, Hunk and Pidge intersected the most, but still not as often as they used to. Everyones shifts were different so they found that they no longer ate together.

However, even though they should be seeing less of each other, Lance had made it a personal goal to go by everyones job and talk to them. At least once a week he appeared like magic asking if there was anything they'd like him to do or if he could help.

"Lance," Pidge hissed, "don't you have ANYTHING better to do than bug me right now?"

"I finished," he said, "I've already visited all the other hangars and even the motor pool."

He looked like he'd not spent even an ounce of energy all day. She gave him a worried look and even felt his forehead.

"You're not taking drugs, are you?" she asked and Lance rolled his eyes.

"No Shirly, I'm not," he said, "there's just a ton of people working in the hangers, so I get done early. I'm used to always having another fight or mission to accomplish, ya know?"

She nodded. She also often felt that she needed to get up and DO something. Before Voltron she'd never felt that way, but now it was like her body demanded it.

"Still, I got nothin," Pidge said, "sorry."

He met the same conversation with Hunk.

When he tried to see Shiro or Allura, or even Keith, they were either in a meeting, heading to a meeting, or ear deep in conversation with someone else. Lance would check on them anyway and then back away slowly before they realized he was there.

Then he would make the rounds around the hangers and motor pool again.

Lance made his way through a few months doing all the odd jobs. When he noticed an extra pair of hands wouldn't be a crowd, he'd pitch in without being asked. If things needed to be run to one place or another, he volunteered and grabbed it before anyone could tell him 'no'.

It was on one of these runs that he ran into Ryan. More like he ran into Ryans foot and fell flat on his face. Bolts that had to go to hanger 3 spread down the hall.

"Oops," Ryan sighed, "you're such a klutz, McClain."

Lance stood and straightened his jacket, "we're not ten, Pillon, back off."

"Didn't realize I was coming on," Ryan said, "I was simply making an observation. But if you can't tell the difference, then I guess that's understandable."

Lance rolled his eyes and bent to pick up the bolts. Ryan Pillon hadn't even been on his radar until after they'd gotten back to Earth. Since they'd left, Pillon had made it his life mission to heckle him and insult him as much as possible. Lance couldn't understand why, and suddenly felt bad about how he'd treated Keith over the past few years. Then again, Keith did deserve some of it. The little emo-jerk-face DID up and leave Voltron after telling him that he should stay…talk about your double standards.

"Oh, right," Ryan called, "I heard that most of what the others say about what you did in space is just them trying to make you look good. You know, cause their nice people."

Lance turned to argue, but the little jerk was already nonchalantly turning the corner. What did 'they' know? Who were 'they' anyway? It's not like 'they' were there at all.

So with practiced ease, he shrugged it off and made his way to hanger 3.

()

"No, really, I heard it from Garret."

Lance had a fork-full half way to his mouth when the conversation happening behind him halted not only the progression of food, but the desire for it.

"I heard most of the report was fabricated so they all shared in the glory. I mean, it makes sense. Garret and Gunderson were friends with McClain before they left, and being lost in space probably meant they really backed each other, so they did that here as well."

"They couldn't have made up the whole thing," the other person said, "like you said, it was dangerous out there. If he was totally a burden, then he probably would've gotten himself killed."

"Don't get ahead of the story," the girl who started continued, "Anyway, I thought the same thing. So I went to see Garret about it. He said that a lot of it was exaggerated. They just gave him a bigger role in the reports so he'd be one of them."

"When did you and Garret become that close that he'd tell you all this?"

 _That's what I wanna know_ , Lance seethed.

"Fine," the girl sighed, "I didn't ask, but I did overhear him talking with someone else about it."

Lance shook his head. She probably heard some other conversation and decided to make up her own story for it. Hunk would never tell such a lie. If he did lie, it would be to down play everything so he wouldn't be asked any details.

Thinking about it made Lance grin and chuckle.

()

Lance was applying his face cream when there was a knock at his door. Not thinking too much about it he just shouted for whoever it was to come in.

"Hey," Pidge called and then stuck her head into the bathroom, "Oooo, you got a different brand or is that just a different sent?"

"Used a different oil," Lance grinned, "Rachel insisted I use it."

"Of course," Pidge said rolling her eyes, "I bet she just had to beg."

Lance reached out and smeared the cream on her nose before she could back up out of arms reach.

"So what's up?" he asked.

"Well," she said rubbing the cream away from her face, "there was a big to-do in the radio room today."

"k," Lance grinning, "was it that epic a fight? Did you get a video of it?"

"you are ok, right?"

"yyyyeahh," Lance said grinning, "why shouldn't I be?"

"well, people talking smack-" Pidge said with a huff, trying to word everything correctly, "it seems some people in the radio room was talking smack about you and I just wanted to know that you shouldn't believe a word of it."

She had caught wind of the rumor just that day and had quickly realized that it had been going around since before they even left earth!

"We're the paladins of Voltron," Lance said, "being famous and handsome is just too much for people, you know?"

He struck a pose and Pidge laughed.

"Suuure," she shook her head. Of course Lance wouldn't be bothered by such stupid rumors.

"You should hear some of the rumors going around about all of you guys," Lance said shrugging, "I heard one just today about how you armed your own armor with personal cloaking and use it to freak out the noobs after lights out."

They both laughed at that.

"Actually that's not a bad idea," Pidge said and Lance's grin widened.

"Right? I was going to tell you about tomorrow," Lance said and they both talked and planned about how they would go about doing just that.

"then," lance said totally into their conniving plot, "get some of Hunks glow stuff and run just a little bit over the sides of your arms, here, here, and here. Then just the edge of the helmet here, and your legs just about here and there."

"Why?"

"because with the cloaking up, the glow will be distorted and since you're not completely outlining your armor in it, it will give the illusion of a human figure and totally mess with their heads."

"That's brilliant!"

"I know," Lance flipped imaginary hair over his shoulder, no doubt something his sisters did a lot, "the trick to really creep people out is to make their imagination do most of the work for you."

"I totally got to work on this," Pidge said, totally pumped.

"Yeah, tell hunk when you run into him and then we'll back you up for your first go," Lance said also really excited.

"right, it's a plan!"

"Operation Ghost Ship."

"I like it."

"You should."

Pidge said good night and ran out of the room to get started on her suit upgrade.

()

Allura gave a dry sob and whine as she laid her head on the table in front of her. They had just finished the third meeting of the day. Shiro sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Keith simply stared at the opposite wall. The other council members had already left the room.

"We don't have time to sit here," Shiro said, but didn't move.

"Whose bright idea was it to ship representatives to the other planets in the coalition?" Allura seethed.

"Yours," Keith and Shiro replied.

"You should've told me it was a stupid idea."

"We did."

"Try harder next time," Allura snapped and Shiro chuckled. Keith rubbed his eyes and yawned.

They had taken elected officials from Earth; one for each planet in the alliance. In return Each planet would send their own representatives. They were to be ambassadors of sorts and open the door for perhaps researchers and others to come and learn from one another.

A brilliant idea on paper.

In Practice Allura was finding everything to be more tedious than imagined.

"I have a lecture to give," Shiro said in order to motivate himself to stand.

"I thought Iverson was covering that," Keith said scowling. If Shiro was leaving, that left him and Allura to face all the reports and various ruffled feathers within the alliance.

"He has the flu," Shiro stretched, "apparently its become a mild epidemic in that part of the ship. Its nothing serious. He'll be up and about in a few days."

"Quiznak, that means we'll have to brief everyone on sanitation…again."

"Add it to the list," Keith sighed, "In my opinion, if people get sick after the first seminar, then its their own fault."

"I'll inform the kitchens and get in touch with the nurses," Allura replied, "Which leaves you, Keith, with the conference from the Valins. They should be calling in in a bit. Unless of course you wish to switch places."

Keith pulled a face.

"I'll talk with the Valins," Keith sighed, "I don't think the nurses like me very much."

"I wouldn't like you either if my first impression of you was, 'JUST FIND THE QUIZNAKING VEIN!' while I was just trying to do my job," Allura grinned.

"They stuck me five times before they finally found the vein," Keith retorted, "it friggin hurt!"

"Try and be nice to the Sickbay staff," Shiro also grinned, "with how the flu is spreading and how badly you paladins find yourselves injured, you can't afford to have enemies there."

"Har har," Keith stood and nodded to Allura and Shiro, "See you guys when you get back."


	2. Chapter 2

Almost a month later Keith was running to the other side of the ship. Hunk had called the main deck and asked if someone could come and take a look at some repairs he'd wanted to make. With everyone already busy, and Keith wanting to get out of that part of the ship, he was out the door before anyone could tell him about another boring meeting. It was insane the kind of crap that had to be discussed before actual work got done. And why did it have to be discussed? Because some idiot might have another idea and refuse to give any support in way of resources.

"Its too risky." They say.

"show us what you mean first."

Keith seethed as he stormed down the corridors, just thinking about all the bs that was bounced around those walls every single day. He was a straight forward individual and all this song and dance was really too much for him.

"What did you say?"

"I said," Lances lazy drawl sounded from around a nearby corner, "that you are the stupid one if you actually think I'll believe that. Its so obvious that you're lying that I actually feel sorry for you."

"You sure I'm lying?"

"yup, now get out of my way, I need to get these papers to the filing deck."

Keith heard Lance running off before he managed to get there. Peeking around the corner, Keith found a kid about their age staring after Lances retreating frame.

The black paladin did not like the look on the kids face.

"Hey."

Ryan jumped and when he saw Keith, he actually went a little pale.

"Sir," he saluted, and Keith waved at him to stop. He hated formality.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, Sir," he said, "I was just on my way to the bay area and ran into McClain. I tried to tell him that his supervisor was asking for him to be on call since the trainees are doing flight drills today. He wanted McClain to be present."

"Why did Lance think you were lying?"

Ryan shrugged, "I have no idea, Sir. McClain often gets moody and disappears for hours at a time."

"And this upsets you?"

"Sir?" Ryan looked at him confused.

"You didn't look to happy that Lance passed you by," Keith said, not sure if he could trust this kid. Lance was not one to refuse to get behind the controls.

Ryan turned a little red, "I take my work seriously, Sir. McClain is always joking and is never serious about his work. He often just comes in and takes over without consulting the supervisors and when things break, he laughs about it. I guess I just have little patience with those that waste my – OH, not to speak badly of your friend or anything!"

Keith shook his head and decided he should go to the source first, "I'll talk to Lance, you get back to work."

"Yes, Sir," Ryan saluted and began to walk towards the bay area. Keith was oblivious to the smirk now playing across Pillons face.

()

"Sure this will work?"

"Why shouldn't it?"

"if we get caught-"

"Seriously, Hunk, all this time and you're still worried about getting detention?"

()

Cadet Hazzel was a lanky kid. In fact he was always underweight and fought to stay healthy enough to pursue his dreams of finishing the garrison.

One night he woke up and sighed as his gut complained at him. He'd had three helpings of dinner and two helpings of desert. Still, the doctor was adamant that he eat when he was hungry, no matter what. So he reached into his nightstand and pulled out a granola bar.

Scowling he dropped it and searched for the kind that wouldn't break his tired teeth or wake up his two roommates. Not finding one he grabbed the harder granola bar and left the room. That day they had done nothing but physical fitness and he was beat.

Reaching the communal corridor bathroom he ate his dry and crunchy granola bar and downed a glass of water. The whole process waking him up the rest of the way.

Grummbling to himself about how hard it was going to be to get back to sleep before he had to wake up for morning drills, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stick up.

Did the AC just kick in?

Was it called AC on a huge ship like this?

He continued back to his room when his ears picked up a slight shuffling sound. The cadet stopped and turned. There was nothing behind him in the dimly lit corridor. This area of the ship was always darkened so the cadets could get a regimented amount of sleep.

Swallowing hard he started toward his room again. Air, cold air blow gently against the back of his neck, lifting the hairs once more.

Barely keeping it together he looked behind him again.

Nothing.

Then the shuffling sound began again as he stood there. He slowly moved back as the light sound bounced off the metal walls like extra light cotton balls.

"Room, room, room," he muttered turned to walk quickly down the hall where he'd feel safe amongst his roommates snoring.

Again, the air blew against his neck, this time, in time with the shuffling sound.

Unable to help himself, he turned.

Barely visible was a smeared apperition in the middle of the hall.

Cadet Hazzel couldn't really remember what happened next. All he knew was that when the fear that had flooded him had receeded slightly, he was almost to Sickbay and his throat hurt.

()

The three friends booked it to Pidges lab. They hadn't expected the guy to scream that loud and- despite what Lance had said to Hunk earlier- they had no desire to get caught.

When they got to the lab they collapsed on the other side of the door, wheezing. Then, looking at each other, burst out laughing.

They were still laughing, crying with pure mirth, when Keith and Allura opened the door.

"Told you," Keith said, shaking his head.

"What are you three doing?!" Allura shouted, "what is going on?!"

They tried to speak, but couldn't through their fits of giggles and snorts of laughter. Hunk was grasping his middle as he wheezed and Pidge made a keening sound as she tried to gain back control. Lance was practically sobbing.

"Guys, that wasn't funny," Allura stressed, "that poor kid had a panic attack after that! He's with the night nurse right now!"

"He'll be fine," Lance said finally sill trying to control himself, "I'm sure of it."

"Yeah," Hunk said shaking his head, "I feel bad he's with the nurse, but he'll be fine."

"They shouldn't be talking about me haunting the place if they don't want it to happen," Pidge chuckled, "I find such satisfaction making peoples rumors a reality."

"Very satisfying," Lance nodded and Hunk also concurred.

"That's not the point," Keith sighed, "half the ship heard that scream and now more than just the cadets think the ship is haunted."

"aaaaand…thatssss…"

"…bad?"

"Yes," Keith and Allura said.

"Look," Allura said trying a new tactic, "all of us are in the spot light weather we like it or not. We need to be an example. What's going to happen if everyone finds out that it was you three picking on defenseless cadets? We have an image to uphold and we need that image if we're going to gain the support we need! The three of you need to march yourselves down there and apologize!"

"Fiiine," the three of them sighed. Maybe they had gone a little over bored. They should've just kept it at the level of what Hunk and Lance were doing with the cool air and spooky noises. Adding the "apparition" may have been the tipping point.

"Just a second, Lance," Keith said pulling Lance aside as the others left to head down to the nurses station.

"Yeah?" Lance asked.

"We really do mean it when we say you guys need to stop fooling around."

"Yeah," Lance chuckled, "Sorry. Pidge and I kinda started the idea and we got Hunk in on it-"

"No, I mean every day."

Lance frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I overheard you and Pillon the other day," Keith said and watched as Lance turned a little red and he gave a nervous laugh. Keiths eyes hurt. He'd been awake for the last 48 hours and held back the urge to wipe that grin off Lances face.

"Oh…yeah, about that…" Lance cleared his throat and starred at his shoes, "sorry…"

"you should believe what you're told."

Lance's head snapped up, eyes wide, "what?!"

"Everyone has to work, Lance, Shiro assigned you to where you would do the best work."

"Keith," Lance gave a weak laugh, "I don't think you heard the entire conversation."

"I heard enough of it," Keith sighed and shook his head, "And you should believe what Pillon says when he's just doing his job and relaying messages to you."

"O...oh?" Lance took a step back, "really? You really…think so?"

"Did you really think otherwise?" Keith asked almost incredulously, "we all have a job to do, Lance."

Lance just stared, wide eyed, mouth hanging open. Keith shook his head again and left. Did it really surprise Lance so much that they expected him to pull his weight?

()

"Lance!" Pidge ran up to him grinning, "It's been weeks! I think we should do another one, just one more, ya know?"

Lance shrugged, "I don't know, I don't think so."

Pidge frowned, "Oh come on! We won't amp the kids up any more, we'll just do little bumps and hisses. Common~"

"No, I really don't want to," Lance said shrugging, "I've got a lot of stuff to do."

"Like what?" she asked and Lance winced.

"Stuff, ok?" he snapped, "just...stuff."

He stormed off and left Pidge totally bewildered.

Later that day she ran into Hunk. They still chuckled about their little night of terror, but then Hunk asked the question Pidge had been thinking.

"You know what's the matter with Lance?"

"You think he's acting weird too? He just snapped at me!"

Hunk nodded, "He just glared at me and told me to go play with my toys…in a mean voice…"

Now Pidge knew it was serious. No one treated Hunk with more deference than Lance. Lance loved Hunks gadgets and would never be mean to the big teddy bear.

"What do you think is eating him?"

"No idea," Hunk said as Shiro entered the room.

"Oh good," he said, "Do you all know what's wrong with Lance?"

"No idea," they both said.

"What did he say to you?"

Shiro ran a hand through his hair, "he said to shove off and flipped me off! I Just asked him if he knew where Keith was. I've never seen him that angry before! What did I do?"

"Have you talked with Allura and Keith?"

"Yeah," Shiro shook his head, "Keith said he told Lance to be more serious about his work, but Keith is always telling Lance to be more serious. That's nothing new."

"No, its not," Pidge scowled. She wanted to go straight to Lance and bug him for the reason, but they had already wasted enough time. Their duties were calling and Hunk said he'd go see him that evening.

()

Lance began to make himself scarce. He did everything he could to keep himself busy in the hangers so he didn't have to go around asking if the others needed help.

Keith had made if clear that they didn't; not from him, anyway.

Lance was working in Hanger 4 when Iverson arrived with his class. They were doing practicals today, but because they did well on their exams the week before, Iverson had told them that they could tour the lions hanger.

"McClain!" Iverson called, "I need you a moment!"

"One moment!" Lance called back. He was holding up one of the carts so Carrie could work underneath it. The Jack didn't raise it high enough.

To Carrie Lance added, "take your time. Iverson can wait a few minutes. Just do it right so I don't have to do this again."

"I'm almost done," Carrie said and swore, "In fact there's nothing I can do. The line just split."

She inched her way out from under the cart before she stood. Lance slowly lowered the machine back onto the jack support.

"After Iverson is done with you, think you can come back and help me take this thing apart?"

"Your wish is my command," Lance said grinning at her. She rolled her eyes and hit his shoulder.

Lance chucked as he went to stand by Iverson. He saluted, more out of habit than anything, and wiped his hands on his oil cloth as he looked over the cadets. They looked about the same age as him even though he knew they were a good five years younger if not more.

It was amazing what a difference three years made.

"I told these cadets that you would take them on a tour of the Lions hanger," Iverson explained, "try not to make it more that fifteen minutes. We have a lot of ground to cover today."

"…wouldn't Hunk or Pidge be better suited for this?" Lance asked. He had no confidence in his ability to answer any of the kids questions should they have any.

"Everyone is wrapped up," Iverson said, "and only you seven have the code to get into that hanger."

"Where is Coran?"

"He's been MIA since we left Earth."

Lance felt cornered, but decided that a quick tour couldn't go too horribly wrong. He'd show them around then quickly get back to work.

"Right, everyone, follow me."

He lead them out of Hanger 4 and through the ship to the separate hanger for the lions. He punched in the code and then let his eyes be scanned. The doors opened, revealing a huge room as tall as the ship itself. The cadets sucked in their breath and looked wide eyed at everything.

The hanger was designed to be as large as each lion needed while their barriers were up. Needless to say this hanger was the largest in the ship. Lance started with the closest.

"This is the yellow lion," he said, "Hunks Lion is our tank in a fight since its armor is thinker and more durable than everyone elses. According to Allura, the paladin of the yellow lion is the care taker of the team, and let me tell you that without Hunk, we would've all starved. Corans cooking is NOT for consumption."

They observed the lion through its barrier. All the lions had their barriers up accept Red.

"Next we have the Green lion," Lance said walking toward it, "This is our stealth and intelligence. As you can see, she also holds our shield."

Lance let the ogle for a minute before moving on.

"This is the Blue lion," he patted the shield, "she's normal until you get her under water, then she'd make even the swiftest and most agile fish ashamed. The Blue lion is equipped with sonar and scanner capabilities that comes in handy when we needed to know what we were dealing with or when we needed to hit a large area at once."

"Weren't you the blue paladin at first?"

And so it begins, Lance thought with a sigh. Aloud he said, "yup. Blue here is what started our adventures."

"What is the attribute needed to pilot the blue lion?" one cadet asked, "you said the yellow lion was kindness, and the green was intelligence, so what about the blue?"

"Of course," Lance said turning around and posing, "the blue lion picks the better looking."

Not even a chuckle.

"I was kidding," Lance said and sighed, "never mind. Allura never told us what Blues attribute was. Now please hold all your questions until the end. I know you all are carrying note books, so just write them down if you think you're going to forget."

He walked up to the black lion and continued, "the black lion is the head of Voltron and our leader. Allura said it has to be someone we'd all follow without questions…but I question Keith all the time. So there goes that theory."

Still not even a smile from his audience.

"Mmm, tough crowed," he muttered walking up to his lion.

"Red here is my lion. As you can see, she doesn't have her barrier up because I'm here with you guys. If you were to come in on your own, she'd block you out just like all the others. Ren is the fastest and more impulsive than the others."

He patted Reds leg and then, shocked, lets his hand rest on her leg.

It was a like the area of his mind that Red occupied was no longer there. Normally, the lions were warm to the touch, no matter what, but Red was cold.

"Red?" Lance placed both hands on his lion and, there, he felt Red. But it was only a little. Like a twitching in his mind that he couldn't quite grasp.

"Red, what's wrong?"

The Cadets shifted uncomfortably. They understood that the lions were somewhat sentient, but it still made them uncomfortable to see someone talking to them like they could answer back.

"Wasn't this lion Keiths at first?"

"What?" Lance blinked, snapping back to his tour group, "Um, yeah, yeah, Red was Keiths. Then after the fight with Zarkon we needed to new leader. So Keith took over. That's when Red…well, Blue chose Allura and I was switched to Red. Allura said it was because I supported Keith as Leader…"

Was that it?

"Why don't you wear the red uniform then?" asked a cadet in the back, "I mean, you switched those weapon thingies."

"Bayards," Lance said, "they're called bayards, and blue looks good on me. Any other questions that you're dying to ask?"

()

"I know you're not asleep yet," Hunk said sitting on Lances bed. Lance was turned towards the wall and not speaking.

"Common, Lance, what's wrong? Is it Keith again?"

Lance pulled a face.

"no," he lied, "its nothing. I'm just a bit crabby lately. I think I'm just tired. Sorry I snapped at you today."

"Not just me," Hunk said, "everyones worried. Did you really flip Shiro off?"

"…yes…"

"That's not like you-"

"Oh, then what is like me?" Lance asked finally turning and facing his friend, "Everyone else seems to know SO much, so let me in on it."

Hunk thought for a moment. In fact he paused for so long that Lance was about to turn back around and tell him to leave.

"Lance McClain talks to me," Hunk said finally, "instead of yelling at me and telling me 'its nothing', he actually talks to me, ya know, cause we're friends."

Lance sighed. It really was hard to argue with Hunk.

"I am sorry, big guy," Lance grinned up at him, "but I really am just tired. I'll apologize to everyone tomorrow. Maybe we can all get together and have lunch or something next week, give you all time to free 30 minutes from your schedules. We've all not gotten together for a while."

"True," Hunk nodded, "I'll let the others know. And if there's anything else, you'll come talk to me…right?"

"Promise," Lance nodded, "Good night."


	3. Chapter 3

True to his word he went around to everyone the next day and apologized for his behavior. Shiro slapped his back and told him that he was welcome to act out, but to warn them next time.

Pidge was grateful, but he'd caught her at a bad time. One of the computers decided to crash that day and was threatening to take others with it.

He talked to Hunk again. This time about trivial things and weather or not they would do another "night of terror".

On his way back down to the hanger, Lance ran into Keith.

"You feeling better?" Keith asked. Lance tried hard to not roll his eyes. It wasn't Keiths fault if Ryan lied to Keiths face. And of course Keith, being the black and white person that he was, was either all trusting or all suspicious. Lance knew that Keith had just chosen the wrong person to trust at that moment.

"Hey, I need to talk to you," Lance said, "got a second?"

"I wish," Keith sighed, "so make it quick."

Lance thought about Red and decided he needed to do this now before something happened. The reason Red was his lion was because he supported Keith, and if the lion was backing out, then he needed to reestablish his support.

"I wanted to apologize for being a jerk to you before…ya know, at the garrison and when we first left earth. I…um…I was jealous and took it out on you. That's no excuse, I just didn't like that you flew better than I did when it looked like you weren't even trying. I also felt bad for getting us all trapped on the other side of a worm hole, like you said, but I didn't want to admit it. I'm really sorry for being a jerk."

Keiths mind went blank. He didn't know how to answer this. Not at all.

"I thought that…that was a given…" Keith said awkwardly, "I'm not angry or upset about that. Lance, we've been through a lot, so I know that you don't hate me."

"Yeah," Lance began to back away, "But I thought it just needed to be said. I got work to do, so I'll see you all later."

Keith watched him go, wondering if he was really alright, when his communicator buzzed and Allura demanded to know what was taking him so long.

()

"I'm forgetting something…" Hunk muttered as he hovered over a thermal cap, "what is it…"

()

Lance sat at lunch…alone. People came up and talked to him and he talked back, but two weeks had gone by and Hunk hadn't gotten back with him.

He and Pidge were working on a new single passenger pod that were still in the works and being developed, so it wasn't outside the realm of possibilities that the big guy just forgot to talk to the others.

Funny, Lance thought, the only time they have time is when I'm apologizing…

"McClain!"

Grimacing, Lance turned to face Supervisor Brad Pillon. He was a tall man that had a bit of a gut and a small beard. He was a decent supervisor and natural leader, but Lance hated his condescending attitude almost as much as he hated the guys younger brother.

"What?" Lance asked doing his best not to glare.

"You are needed in Hanger 1 bay area 2 after you're done with lunch," he replied, "make sure you're quick about it."

"Yeah, sure…"

"What?" Brad snapped.

"I said, 'yes, Sir'," Lance said giving a mock salute and going back to his food. Whatever Brad wanted, it couldn't be good.

()

Pidge and Hunk looked at five of their newly built single passenger pods. They called them Spec Pods and they were designed for recon and short distance travel. They still had a lot of work to do before they could be safe to even test out, but they were still very proud of their babies.

So when one went missing, they were…upset.

"WHY IS THERE ONLY FOUR HERE?!"

"Hunk, calm down-"

"NO! We worked day AND night on these!"

Hunk was almost in tears and Pidge, though she was just as upset, was taken aback by Hunks extreme reaction.

"I'll go talk to the bay workers," Pidge said, "You continue to work on these four. I'm sure it was just a mistake."

()

"The Spec Pods?" Supervisor Brek scowled as he thought about it, "I can't say that I know anything about them accept that you are keeping them by the TFJ-15s. We were instructed to not mess with them, so we haven't."

Pidge huffed, "But we're missing one. Do you mind if I go around and question your workers?"

"I don't mind so long as the work gets done on time," Brek said, "idle chatter is something we don't do down here."

Pidge raised an eyebrow. If that was the case, no wonder Lance is miserable.

She started with those closest to her and asked around. None of them had noticed that one of the Spec Pods had been missing since they never paid them any attention.

"Your name is Jordan?" Pidge asked.

"Yes ma'am," he said grinning ear to ear. He kind of reminded her of Lance.

"Have you seen where the missing pod went?"

"Pod?"

"the Specs, have you see them?"

"They stay were you put them ma'am," Jordan replied with a shrug, "Of course, you put them right next to the bay doors…I guess one could've gotten sucked out while the flight drills are going on."

"I doubt that," Pidge sighed and moved on.

In the end, she had to admit defeat. She'd talked to every supervisor in every hanger and even checked Hanger 2's supply closet that someone jokingly suggested she check.

"Well, she said to herself as she made her way back to Hunks lab, "that's why you make more than one."

()

"What's so urgent you woke me up at…no…that you woke me up in general," Keith asked, looking up at Pidge and Allura.

"Its awesome!" they cried and grabbed him.

They hauled him over to the observation deck. Hunk and Shiro were already there.

"I thought you were going to get Lance," Pidge asked Hunk who shrugged.

"His doors locked and he never answered," he said frowning, "I feel bad that I forgot to tell you all that he wanted to have lunch the other week, so I thought he'd be ok with this….guess not."

"Or maybe he's so tired that he slept through it?" Shiro guessed.

"Anyway," allura said, "its been too long since any of us have just sat back and looked at the stars. I demand that work talk is off limits and we are to relax for the next little while."

"Here here!" Keith said, now totally into the activity. They all took a seat on the floor and watched the nebula and star systems go by. Hunk had made treats and Pidge had snuck a bottle of cider out of Iversons stash.

For a while they just sat in silence, then they started to reminisce and laugh about how different traveling with everyone else was to traveling just by themselves. It had its upsides, but they all agreed that they didn't see enough of each other. They missed the simplicity of fighting their battles just by themselves.

"Also," Pidge asked, "Has anyone seen Coran?"

"He got stranded on Earth," Keith said with a chuckle.

"We seem to have accidentally left him behind," Allura said and looked truly sorry about it, "I have no idea how he ended up off the ship when I was positive I'd seen him in the lions hangar just a few minutes before."

"that is strange," Hunk said scowling, "and here I thought he'd gotten lost in the vents or something."

They laughed and joked a while longer. Tired though they were, it felt nice to just sit and relax for a while.

()

"Do we have to?"

Shiro grimaced, "If we want the lovely Ms. Greens approval on our safety regulations, we HAVE to add in Lock Down drills…"

"I hate her," Keith sighed, "why do we care what she thinks?"

"Because other people care what she thinks," Allura replied, ever the diplomat, "and as far as demands go, this one isn't that bad."

"We've done everything we can," Shiro said, "this first time will be structured. You sent out all the memos, right?"

"Of course," Allura replied a little haughtily. They had been planning this for over a month and she'd sent reminders on every crew members com device at least once a week. Sometimes twice a week if she'd forgotten that she'd already done it.

"Then everyone on board should know what to do," Shiro took a deep breath, pushed the master com button and his voice could be heard in every corner of the ship.

"Initiate Lock Down."

Red lights flashed and power switched to low source. Secure doors shut and locked when everyone was in their place. As this was their first drill, everything was done precisely and speed was not a factor. The pods and ships were secured and everything was just about to be locked up when a different siren went off.

Shiro and the others almost jumped out of their skin.

"We're detecting movement near bay door 2," Iverson replied, bringing up a visual of that area. One of their Spec Pods hovered there. What the quiznack was someone doing out there with it?! Not only was it not the best day to do this, but it wasn't even near ready to be tested!

"Zoom in," Keith snapped, and recognized Lance's blue armor.

"Cut the drill," Shiro sighed, "Open the door."

Iverson nodded and opened the bay door. Power returned and the lights stopped flashing.

"Drill failed," Iverson called over the master com, "everyone stay put until given further instructions."

Shiro, Keith, and Allura made their way to Hanger 1 bay door 2. When they got there, they found Lance landing the pod and getting out carefully.

"What were you doing out there?" Shrio shouted. Lances head snapped up and he winced.

"Sorry," he said, "but…we've got to get out there-"

"Lance," Allura said, "what we need to know is why you were out there when you shouldn't have been."

Lance hesitated, then spoke quickly, "I was testing out the pod like I was told to, but then I-"

"No one would tell you to do that," Keith snapped, "today we were supposed to have a drill, didn't you get the memo?"

Lance blinked, confused, "what? Look, forget the memo and whatever, see, there's a ship-"

"Last week, you should have gotten a memo telling you what you're supposed to be doing today. You were NOT supposed to be gone!"

Lances mouth moved up and down for a moment, but nothing came out. Shiro sighed finally.

"Look, Lance, I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but you really need to stop taking out your anger on everyone else. That report about you hitting that other kid- Acting out like this is what little kids do, not Voltron paladins."

"Commander Shirogane," Iversons voice came through the hangers com, "Madam Green is wanting a conference with you."

"See?" Shiro snapped, "I would love to be gone right now, but I can't. So suck it up! In fact, I'm not done taking to you, so just go to your room till I have time to finish this."

He turned on his heal and marched back to the bridge.

"you realize you just made everything so much harder than it should be, right?" Keith said, folding his arms.

Lance shook his head, "guys, I don't know what you're talking about, but there's a ship out there!"

"What ship? The only thing out there was you!"

"A ship!" Lance cried, "it kinda looks like a Galra ship, but its different! Like someone salvaged it and built on their own design! They've got some kind of thingy and, and, and some kind of cloaking, like Pidge's, but different!"

"Lance," Keith said through clenched teeth, "Now is not the time for one of your 'get out of jail free' stories!"

"Its true!"

"We would have picked up on it," Allura said, "our radar system goes even further than the castles did."

"Its there!" Lance snapped, "I saw it and everything! I was gone for days!"

"Please, lance," Keith shook his head, "whatever you're trying to do, just stop."

He left, completely done with Lance's bull and attitude. He get's all butt-hurt about him telling him to be more serious, then refuses to talk to any of them for months. Whatever attention getting drama Lance decided to act out, today was not a good day for it.

"Allura, I'm telling the truth, I swear," Lance said trying to convince the only person left.

"Lance," She sighed, "I'll check the radar again, but that's all I can do right now. Just do what Shiro says and we'll all talk about this later."

As she walked away Lance walked over to a work bench. He remembered placing his com unit there.

But it was gone.

()

The door was locked when Shiro found the time to talk to Lance. It was also the next day. He felt bad for leaving Lance in his room like a child for so long, but it was just how it happened.

"Lance, open up!" Shiro called knocking on the door.

Nothing.

"Common, Lance, we need to talk."

Shiro waited for almost five minutes before he heard the beeping that meant that the door was now unlocked.

Lance was making his way back to his bed when Shiro stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Shiro looked Lance over and noticed dark circles and other tell-tale signs of exhaustion. The boys helmet had hidden these qualities the day before.

"When was the last time you slept?" Shrio asked.

"You just woke me up…so a few minutes ago?" Lance yawned and winced.

"Lance," Shiro tried to word what he wanted to say in a way that wouldn't make Lance angry, "why were you out yesterday?"

Lance just stared at him, looking so tired. He looked over at the clock on his nightstand and then back at Shiro.

A wry grin spread over Lances face.

"I was joy-riding," Lance said almost smugly, "but like I said before, that's not the important thing. There is a ship-"

"Allura, Keith, and Pidge left last night and looked around. Allura scanned the area all around the Atlas and Pidge used her tech to search and decode whatever they could find. Lance, there is nothing there."

Lances jaw clenched.

"I'm no liar, Shiro."

"That's not what I'm-"

"I'm foolish, and an idiot, but I'm not a liar!"

"Lance-"

"Listen to me! There was a ship out there! They used Galra tech, but I'm sure they weren't Galra-"

"ENOUGH!" Shiro held his breath as Lance sat back, "Lance, I'm sorry I got angry yesterday, we're barely holding our heads above the paperwork. We really couldn't handle the drill yesterday failing. We have another drill set up next week. This time, PLEASE follow the instructions in your communicators inbox.

"Its missing…"

"What?"

"My com-unit," Lance said, "It wasn't where I left it."

"Did you drop it while you were 'joy-riding'?" Shiro asked with a sigh. Lance laughed.

"Sure, let's go with that."

"Lance, what is going on?" Shiro held out his arms in a 'what gives' gesture, "you've been moody, violent, and then you avoid us all like the plague!"

"I'm curious, how have I been violent?"

"You punched Jordan Pillon in the face!"

Lance scowled as he tried to remember…

"Ooooh, yeah….he complained about that?"

Shiros eyes widened, "yes! His eye was swollen shut for almost a week!"

"Quiznak," Lance muttered, "didn't think I hit him that hard."

"Why did you do it?"

Lance stared at Shiro again. Shiro felt like Lance was guarding his answer.

"Jordan likes to…make things harder than they need to be," Lance said slowly, "Supervisor Brad Pillon asked me to…do something for him and Jordan was in my way. I also didn't like the way he talked about Pidge and Allura. The guy is a bit of a perv."

"You hit on Allura all the time."

"I'm a 'flirt'," Lance rolled his eyes, "I'm not a 'perv'. There is a difference you know."

"So you had to hit him?"

Lance grinned again, "at that point, it was my pleasure."

Shiro pinched his nose again. A headache was forming and he didn't know what to blame for it. This wasn't going to be easy. He had no idea how to help Lance, or what to say to get Lance to talk to him. It was obvious that there was more to everything, but he had no idea how to go about figuring it out.

"We can't help if you don't talk to us, you know this, right?" Shiro asked, "are you mad as us? Can you let us know what we've done? Lance, you look like you haven't slept in weeks. What's going on?"

Lance sighed and pulled his blanket, slowly, around him.

"Yeah, ok," Lance nodded, "I'm pissed. I'm really, really, angry. I'm tired, and you are keeping me up."

"Lance, that's not what I'm talking about."

"Well, that's what I'm talking about, so good night, Shiro," Lance said laying back down and pulling the blanket above his head, "turn out the light when you leave and lock the door."

Shiro waited, but Lance made no move to uncover himself. So he stood and made his way to the door. Turning off the light he said, "Make sure you get something to eat as well."

Lance didn't answer and Shiro walked out, the door shutting behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

"Yeah, I woulda hit him too," Keith said as Shiro told him and Allura about his talk with Lance.

"I don't even know this Jordan person," Allura wrinkled her nose, "but he sounds like a horrible person."

"Yeah, but from you I kind of expect it," Shrio said to Keith, "Lance has always been more volume than actual violence."

"True," Keith said sitting back in his chair, "Have you talked to Pidge and Hunk yet?"

"not yet," Shiro sighed, "I'm just having a hard time getting my head wrapped around what's going on."

"Lance chose a poor time to suddenly have a crisis," Keith grumbled, "could be he just needs attention."

Allura shook her head, "then why didn't he come out when we asked him to spend that time with us?"

"Cause he's pouting," Keith suggested, "he does that."

"This didn't seem like pouting," Shiro said, "we've all seen him pout, and this wasn't it."

"Whatever," Keith finally stood up, "I can't focus on this anymore. We have too much to do. If you want to take any more time off to go heckle with Lance, then make sure you tell me so I can cover for you."

"I'll go inform Lances supervisor that he'll be taking a few sick days," Allura said, "It shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

"Then I'll go see Pidge and Hunk," Shiro said, "I think they should know how the waters are before they try to go into that room."

()

"You are Supervisor Pillon, right?" Allura asked. The man turned and smiled at her.

"Depends on which one you want," he said, "are you after Brad Pillon or Brek Pillon?"

"Oh, ah," Allura couldn't remember exactly who they assigned Lance under, "I would like to speak to Lance's Supervisor, Lance McClains?"

The supervisor frowned, "Well, I don't have McClain on my roster. My brother, Brek, is right over there. You can ask him."

"Thank you," Allura said giving the man a kind smile.

()

"Wow, so he's kinda just pissed off in general?"

"That's not normal," Hunk shook his head, "I'm gonna go talk to him."

"I'd let him sleep," Shiro said stopping him, "He really looked like he needed it."

"But Hunk is right," Pidge said, "even back in the garrison, whenever Iverson or the other teachers would really lick into him he took it just fine. There was even that one upperclassman who really had it out for him, but Lance always shrugged him off."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that guy," Hunk said, "Lance only got mad at him when he called me fat and stole Pidges glasses."

"He was a real jerk," Pidge nodded.

"Sooo, you're saying maybe Lance is angry because someone said or did something to us?"

"Could be," Pidge said, "before I talked to Lance about all these stupid rumors going around about all of us. But they were more ridiculous than mean."

"Rumors?" Shiro raised an eyebrow, "What rumors?"

"Oh my gosh, shiro," Hunk sighed, "you guys need to walk around the ship a little bit more."

Pidge told them about the talk she often heard in the radio room and the mess hall. She also told them about her and Lances talk when she told him about the stuff being said about him.

"He didn't seem bothered by it…but now I'm wondering if he was…"

"But you told him it wasn't true," Hunk said, "and he was normal Lance up until after our prank."

"Well," Shiro looked at his watch, "I have to go, but I just wanted you guys to know that Lance is a little on edge and that he needs rest."

"Roger," they replied.

()

Allura looked around the observation deck. It was empty, but she made sure for the umpteenth time.

"Allura?" Pidge and Shiro walked in followed by Keith, "What's the emergency?"

"Yeah," Hunk yawned as he came through a different door, "I know we said we needed to do this more often, but tonight is not the best night…"

"I called everyone here because I need to know how this could've gone un noticed for so long," she said and brought up her screen, "Its about Lance."

"And that's my cue," Keith turned ready to go back to bed, but Allura grabbed his shirt and dragged him back.

"Keith, everyone, none of the ships records show that Lance is on board."

"How?"

"That's ridiculous," Pidge brought up her own screen and began her own search.

"I went down to the hanger to tell them that Lance would be taking a few days off, but not a single supervisor had him in their roster. I checked every single one! So I went back to the bridge to see where he was assigned and I couldn't find his name anywhere. He's not even recorded as being on board! According to the ship, he's never left Earth!"

"Calm down," Shiro said as Allura took a deep breath, "we all know he's on board and not back on Earth."

"I saw Shiro assign him myself," Keith said firmly, "he was there in the computer when we left."

"…he's not there now…" Pidge said scowling at her screen, "Allura's right. He's not here."

"So it's a glitch," Keith shrugged, "Its happened before."

"No, Keith," Pidge said, "there's not even a back log for him. According to this, he never existed."

"That is so creepy," Hunk said, looking around out of reflex, "what happened to his file?"

"That's what I'll be working on this week," Pidge said, "Hunk, I'll need you on gossip patrol."

"Gossip patrol?" shrio asked.

"Yeah," Pidge shrugged, "Lance is irritated about something, and this is really weird. We talked before about how there might be other rumors that we don't know about. So Hunk will go and see if he can't pick up something that we've been unaware of."

"guys," Keith sighed, "we can't just drop everything-"

"Watch me," Hunk snapped and he nodded to pidge before leaving the room.

"Allura," Pidge said, "Think you could go out and scan the area again? Just to make sure? Lance may be the type to make stuff up and lie on cue, but once you call him on it, he usually fesses up. Its not like him to hold to lie if its not the truth."

"Sure, I can do that."

"Keith?"

Keith shook his head, "I'll do my own research."

He turned sharply and left. They watched him go and hoped he would share whatever information he picked up.

"I will keep watch over Lance directly," Shiro said, "since I talked to him before, maybe he'll talk to me again? A little more next time?"

"Hope so," Pidge huffed, "I can't even begin to wonder why he's not telling us what's wrong."

"Normally all he does is complain," Allura said, "the fact that he's holding back is really making me worried."

"But now that we know where to start digging, we might be able to find out."

()

Lance got up.

Then he lay back down.

He was so tired. He pulled the covers over him again and tried not to twist his body too much. Why did he hurt so much?

So tired.

()

Two days later Shiro was on his way to Lances room. Two days of sleep had to be enough to at least hold a conversation. On his way he picked up a sandwich and an apple from the kitchen. He had a sinking suspicion that Lance hadn't been out of his room for the whole two days. Hunk had assured him that Lance had a stash of snacks, but that couldn't be very filling.

"Lance!" Shiro called again, "unlock the door!"

Nothing.

So Shiro waited.

And waited.

Scowling, Shiro banged on the door again. He couldn't hear anything on the other side.

"Lance, open the door!"

Shiro had a master code, but he didn't like to use it. So he waited a bit longer before finally taking off the reader and punching in his key code.

It was dark, and freezing. Shiro was warm blooded, but even he found the room to be unbearably cold. Lance was under his blanket, much the same as when he had left him.

"Come on, Lance, you can't sleep forever," Shiro sighed walking over to him, "At least eat something."

Lance didn't move except for the light rise and fall of his breathing.

"I know how much you like turkey on rye," Shiro said, trying to tempt him out, "Seriously, you need to at least sit up."

He reached down and snatched the blanket away.

There was a sickly smell and Shiro stared at a completely unconscious lance. The boys face was pale and pouring sweat.

"Lance?" Shiro dropped to his knees to get a closer look. He lifted him slightly and the smell got worse. Shiro pulled him forward and lifted Lances shirt to get a look at his back.

Bandages covered every inch of skin and they were stained red and yellow. The smell of infection now overwhelming making it hard for Shiro to breath or think clearly.

"Sickbay," Shrio muttered to himself, "I need to get you to…when did you.."

He wrapped Lance up in his blanket and carried him out the door and down the halls. Lance was dead weight, but Shiro practically ran, even more afraid that Lance was not as heavy as he had been before. He took extra care when climbing and descending steps so as not to hit Lance against anything.

"M…mmmm…"

"Its ok," Shiro said, hearing the groan from the bundle in his arms, "I'm getting you to the doctor. Everything will be fine…fine…"

"…not…"

"What?" shiro was only paying half attention as he took the fastest rout to Sickbay.

"…not…lying…."

"What?"

But Lance had passed out again.

()

Shiro stared blankly at the opposite wall. He remotely heard pounding foot steps approach him, but he couldn't seem to get out of his own head.

"Shiro," Keith got in his face, "Shiro! What's going on?"

"Lance is in sick bay…urgent care," Shiro said numbly, "fever 104.4."

Hunk let out a low whistle, but Shiro wasn't done.

"The doctor said he was malnourished, and the fever was due to infection…"

"Infection of what?"

Shiro shook his head. How could he describe what he'd seen?

"how did he get malnourished?"

Shiro shrugged, "I asked the kitchens and they said they hadn't seen Lance in weeks."

"So, what, he's anorexic now?" Pidge guessed, "why?!"

"Who cares?!" Keith snapped, "the damned idiot!"

"Keith-"

"no! he's a moron and I've got work to do," Keith turned and marched away. They watched until he turned a corner and gave a collected sigh.

"He's worried."

"He's been worried."

"We've all been worried," Hunk stressed, "let's face it, nothing is the same as before! Before the only obligations we had were to the coalition, Voltron, and our missions. Now we're hauling all this…"

"Baggage, weight, problems, extra responsibility, etc. etc., all of the above," Pidge listed when Hunk couldn't find a nicer way to put it.

"Yeah," he sighed, "before it was just us, and that was stressful, with all these other people, its bound to drive us all crazy."

They had all talked about this before, but instead of light chatter, it now had a heaver implication.

"We shouldn't have split up," Allura said.

"We can't change it, though," Shiro said, "the most we can do is try to help Lance where we can. Have you found anything, Allura?"

"Nothing," she sighed, "there's nothing out there."

"The doctor said he'd call me back when he's done and Lance is stable," Shrio said and suppressed a shudder.

"so…what?" Allura asked, "what do we do until then?"

They looked at Shiro, but he couldn't think of anything.

()

Dr. Reem was an expert in his field as a military doctor. He'd not only worked near the front lines in his younger days, but still considered himself active duty even well past his retirement from the Army. He'd seen all sorts of injuries that, sadly, he would describe as 'creative', especially on returned POWs.

He never thought he'd see so many 'creative' injuries on one body, especially someone so young.

"There's something you need to see," Reem said, finally calling Shiro down to his office.

He stood and Shiro followed. Reem lead him into the next room, past rows of bunks, two were occupied with those that had caught the flu. On the other side of the room were personal and isolated rooms.

Inside one Lance lay, deeply asleep. His face still glistened with sweat, but he didn't look like he was in pain.

"I'm going to show you what I've found," Reem said beckoning Shiro forward, "I'll explain everything in detail, but I want to know what you think, alright?"

Shiro nodded as Reem lifted the covers to expose Lance's legs.

"There's a lot here to catch the eye," Reem said holding up a hand to forestall Shiro's outburst, "but let me go in order. First there's this."

He pointed to thin lines up and down his legs about an inch long each. There were multiple inch long lines.

"These are the oldest injuries a little over a month old. I can tell that they were stitched shut with incredible skill. Which means they were deep and the stitching was done by someone else. The next injury are these."

He moved to the end of the bed and pointed to the bottom of Lances feet.

"Its like someone pressed a hot iron to his feet. These burn scars are healed and were also taken care of fairly well. Next are these longer marks along the shin, also stitched together with talent I'm starting to get jealous of."

As he pointed out each new injury, it was clear that they were more recent. Shiro tried to swallow, but found his mouth completely dry. Some of the cuts still that the stitching in them.

"Each cut was made deeply and specifically non-leathal. They are no where near major arteries or veins. And, as I'm sure you know, bone gets stronger when it heals after it breaks…" Reem covered Lances legs as he spoke, "there is evidence of several breaks and fractures from his feet all the way to his ribs. Now, like everything else, they were healed well."

"Doctor…" Shiro swallowed a lump of bile that threatened to come up. But Reem, now that he had started, felt he should finish before he, himself, lost his nerve.

"As you can see," Reem said, this time showing Shiro pictures of the injuries on Lances torso, "there aren't as many injuries here in the front, but they are the most recent. The infection started with an opening in the small of his back, no doubt he'd tried to clean it all, but he couldn't reach it. In the end the infection spread to the others on his back. His shoulders are stretched and the muscles are pulled, most likely cause by prolonged restraints, so I can understand that he couldn't get to that part of his back."

"…torture…" Shiro said and looked over at Reem, who sighed.

"At first I thought he'd done it himself. It wouldn't be the first time I'd treated someone who had managed to do this much damage to themselves- if you can believe it- but the evidence of stitching and the…patterns, don't match self-inflicted injuries. See the marks don't go above his scapula on the back, and don't go above his collar bone in the front. I've been around the block a few times, Commander. These were not self-inflicted, and in my experience…victims do not avoid head and neck injuries without a reason. Now, it looks like they would have gotten there eventually, but normally a torture victim get's their head bashed in first. It rattles them and makes them more susceptible to answering whatever questions they're asked."

"You-" shiro had to clear his throat, "you said the first was a little over a month ago?"

Reem nodded, "maybe a little older, but not much. I also found cuts and bruising in his throat. Like he was forced to swallow glass or something. But there's nothing in his system or any indication that there was anything dangerous in there."

Shiro didn't even know what to think, much less what to ask from there. He needed to digest this first. But Reem wasn't done.

"We're running tests to make sure no treatments we do will backfire, and then we'll do a complete scan."

"Scan? What? Why?"

Reem gave a small, humorless, smile, "Like I said, there's always a reason the face in not hurt. I'm making sure he's not…compromised, in any way."

Shiro felt his gut drop. That hadn't crossed his mind. Would it? Could Lance become a spy? It would explain why he's so distant all of a sudden. What if this was his way of warning them?

"Commander," Reem put a hand on Shiro's arm, "I understand this is a dear friend, but I insist that you trust me here. This boys health is going to be fine, however, I'd like to suggest you get a councilor ready for when he's healthy enough to see one. He's going to need a lot more help once I'm done with my job."

Shiro nodded. He had things he needed to do. He got all the information he could here, now he needed to look elsewhere for answers.


	5. Chapter 5

Keith stood in the corner of Hanger 1. He kept still and observed the goings on. Who mostly talked with who, and which supervisors favored which workers.

Surprisingly, they didn't pay him any attention. So long as he didn't move, he could stand there and watch for as long as he wanted.

Which is what he did multiple times a day. The first time he'd done this was when Lance had given him that odd apology. No one really came this far back amongst the pallets of supplies,

"Over here Cassy!"

Keith fought the reaction to jump.

"I can't believe we have to do this. I'm a certified mechanic and he's got me doing inventory!" the girl named Cassy sniped, "'oh, you have missed three days due to the flu? I guess you lost your place on maintenance.' I swear, he is such a fink."

"He sure knows how to brown nose," the first voice said, "Did you see him with that one chick…um…Allean, or something like that. That hot alien that works with the other Paladins. Yeah, he was all sugar and hunny."

"And 'cool wit' with the diplomats, I know," Cassy snapped, "the only people who don't know are those he can use."

"Speaking of which, I heard McClain was sick."

"How much do you want to bet that they slipped something in his drink?"

"How much do you wanna bet they beat him up and him being sick is a cover?"

"Damn, I hate them."

"No one will believe you."

"they'll have to believe McClain, right?"

The first voice snorted, "you think he'll tell?"

"why wouldn't he?" Cassy asked and Keith couldn't hold back anymore.

"Yeah," he asked making them jump, "Why wouldn't he?"

()

Ryan sighed and rubbed his shoulder. It had been a hard day in the hangers and he was looking forward to a nice hot bath.

"Your name is Ryan, right?"

The boy nearly jumped out or his skin. Spinning around he found Hunk Garret.

"How-how did you-"

"I've been sneaking around Galra ships for a long time," Hunk said smiling, "I didn't mean to startle you, sorry."

"No...no, its nothing," Ryan gave a small chuckle, "What can I do for you sir?"

"Well, I've been tasked with going over a few social experiments," Hunk replied, "Also I've been going through a few security videos, and I noticed you really get along with a lot of people. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions for my data."

"Oh, of course," Ryans smile widened, "Want to come in and sit down?"

"that would be wonderful," Hunk nodded.

()

"Speak," Keith ordered, "tell them what you were talking about."

Cassy and James sat in Pidges personal lab with everyone they saw as superstars gathered around them. They stared blankly at Shiro and Allura as they wandered their gaze over to Pidge and Hunk.

"Maybe if you say 'please'," Pidge said, "they'll not feel like they're being interrogated."

Keith just glared and Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry," hunk said smiling at them and handing them both a can of coke, "Keith has been on edge since he was born. What is it you need to tell us?"

"Well," James said with a glance at his friend, "we were just shootin' the bull when Commander Kogane wanted to know more about what we were talking about…"

"Shooting the bull?"

"You know," Cassy shrugged, "taking a piss."

"You lost us," Allura replied.

"They were bad mothing their supervisors," Keith said, "now get to the important stuff."

They all returned Keiths glare as the two hanger workers fretted and tried to gather their thoughts.

"Look," James said, "everyone talks bad about their boss and managers, right?"

"You-" Keiths hackles raised slightly and James winced.

"Keith enough," Shiro pulled him back, "what is this about?"

"They think some people on the ship beat up Lance," Keith snapped, "I thought they might tell us who."

The workers went pales and shook their heads.

"We don't know who," Cassy said, her voice shaking, "we just know that McClain pissed someone off-"

"Cas!" James snapped and Cassy covered her mouth.

Even through his metal arm Shiro could feel Keiths anger rise. So he stepped in front of the Black Paladin before he could scare the kids even more.

"You realize there are no cameras in here, right?" Pidge said, watching them carefully, "if you talk to us here, no one will know what you say or that you were even here."

They glanced at each other again.

"Look," James said, "we hanger workers aren't…well, we have our own way of doing things. We don't care about anything but our jobs. We like our jobs."

"Your job is not in jeopardy," Shiro said, taking a seat in front of the pair, "you have my word."

"Can I ask a question first?" Cassy said and got a look from James, which she ignored.

"Sure."

"Is McClain really sick?"

Shiro hesitated, then nodded.

"He's hurt," Shiro said, "and his injuries got infected. If you could tell us how he might have gotten hurt, that would help immeasurably."

"We don't know everything," James said before Cassy could, "we just know that he pissed someone off and they've made things a little difficult for him down in the Hangers."

"We all had his back, though," Cassy added, "the reason he was in hot water was because he stood up for us against this mystery person."

"how many of the supervisors are in on this?" Allura asked.

"…all of them?" Cassy said, "I would be surprised if most of them didn't have at least one foot in the know."

"Know what?"

"You sure no one will know we're here?" James asked, "We owe McClain, but I'm not eager to be on the black list, and Cassy is my cousin. If she's in trouble, then my mother will have my hide and my aunt will follow swiftly after."

"I'm sorry," Hunk said raising both hands, "I am so lost. What is the point of all this and what does all this mean?"

"Like we said," Cassy replied, "we like our jobs. We LIKE our jobs…some do not."

"Supervisors looking to climb the ladder?" Shiro asked, "This is a poor place to do that."

"Every opportunity is still an opportunity," James shrugged, "Being chosen for this crew is already a high honor, so its only a little elbow rubbing that could get someone near, if not in, the bridge."

"Are you saying," Allura said slowly, "That Lance is in Sickbay, because some quiznaking upstart decided to look beyond their means?"

"Allura," Shiro said holding out his arm between her and the kids, "Go stand next to Keith and try not to feed off each other, alright?"

"They probably tried to, what term did you use, 'rub elbows' with Lance and Lance told them to shove it," Pidge drawled, "I kinda wish I coulda seen it."

"Why didn't he come talk to us?" Hunk asked.

They shrugged and Cassy replied, "They already had him underfoot when they took him off the rosters. We all did our best to always have a job for him, but-"

"Its humiliating," James cut in, "you really think he'd tattle like a five year old only to have you question the supervisors and find that his name is back on the roster and there's no evidence of anything he'd told you?"

That hit harder than they had intended. Shiro and the others thought about how they hadn't even believed him about the ship. But Keith was thinking about something else.

"But you have no idea who it might be," Shiro asked.

"No," James said, a little too quickly.

"We already told you enough to get us in a lot of trouble," Cassy said.

"Go big or go home," Pidge said grinning, "but we mean it when we say that we'll cover you. If Lance stood between you and the beast, it would be insulting to feed you to the beast."

"…That doesn't make us feel any better," James said flatly.

"Names," Keith practically growled, "I. Want. Names."

James stood up and looked Keith right in the eye.

"Pick a supervisor, and start there. All we know is a quiet mouth is a safe bet."

"Aaand with that, we now know why Lance caught their attention," Pidge sighed, "he could never keep his mouth shut."

"Unless its to talk with us," muttered Hunk darkly, "then 'its nothing'."

"So everyone in the hangers are under these people?"

James sat back down, "Not really. Some of those that work with us are in on whatever scheme they got going. We don't know who, but its obvious they're there because Randy got sidelined just last week and he never talked to anyone but those in his pit."

"What would they have to gain from it?"

"I haven't the foggiest," Cassy said shrugging.

"Why don't you two just come work with me?" Hunk said, "I'll need some more people here in a bit when we finalize the Spec Pods-"

"Sorry," Cassy interrupted and James laughed.

"We're mechanics; which means we spend almost all day complaining about you engineers. I mean, the things we have to do to get to an engine block these days, its ridiculous."

"Don't get me started on the sparks and ac lines," Cassy said nodding, "I may have slender fingers, but unless I take out half of the inside of the vehicle, I'm not getting anywhere."

"Fine, fine," Hunk sighed, "never mind."

"If you are asked about where you have been, tell them that Hunk needed your advice on motors in the Specs," Pidge said, "Tell them that we just ambushed you and dragged you with us."

"They have been known to do that occasionally, so it wouldn't be an out of place lie," Allura said and took out her com device, "I'm going to give you my private com line. I want you two to be our eyes and ears in that Hanger."

"I don't think-"

"We all have our own line," Allura said, "and we've kept it separate from everyone elses. Its not even part of the ship since its from the Castle of Lions and everyone else uses the Earth equivalent."

"Soo, no one can tap into it?"

"Absolutely not," Allura said.

The cousins left and the five of them sat in silence for a while. Everything had been happening right outside their peripheral vision. And even though they could now see the sings of it…it was too late.

()

Lance opened his eyes and closed them again.

He ached.

Even his eyelids hurt.

How long had he been asleep?

He heard the door open and wondered how since he'd remembered locking the door.

"Shi'o," Lance muttered, "ge' out."

"Good thing I'm not Shrio."

Lances eyes popped open. He first noticed the old man, then realized this wasn't his room. The doctor gave Lance a moment to take everything in.

"..how…"

"Commander Shiro came to me in quite the panic with you in his arms saying that you weren't waking up."

Again, the doctor paused to let Lance process this.

"….shi-"

"He and your other team mates are very worried," Reem said, "they visit all the time. Some of my nurses have to drag them out at the end of visiting hours."

"…aren't they busy…?"

"I'm sure they are. But you can't expect them to be able to focus when someone they care about is horribly hurt and sick, can you?"

Lance felt like a knife was twisting in his gut and knew it had nothing to do with his injuries.

"…yes…I can…"

Reem stood by and observed. He hoped the Commander had taken his advice and had acquired a decent therapist.

()

"Hey Reem," Pidge and Allura walked into the station, "can we sit with him for a while?"

"Ah," the Doctor put the com unit down, "I was just about to contact the Commander. It seems that Lance has woken up-"

"AWESOME!" Pidge started to make her way to the back of the room with Allura close behind, but Reem stopped them.

"He isn't well enough for visitors just yet," Reem said apologetically, "I was just going to tell you that in a few days, once his speech is less slurred, he should be able to sit up and talk."

"We just want to see him," allura said, "We promise to be quick."

Reem sighed, "he doesn't want visitors."

"…what?"

"He said that he didn't want…to see anyone…for a while…."

In truth, Lance had specifically told Reem that he 'didn't want to see THEM ever again', but the doctor tried his best to be as kind as possible.

"Why?"

"His body is still fighting the infection," Reem said, "and he hasn't had anything solid in his system for weeks. It will take some time before he's back to full health."

"If only we had those healing pods," Allura hissed, "that's another thing we must get installed. This is pointless."

Reem chose to not take offence to that and simply apologized again.

()

Recovery was going to be hell. Lance looked at the food he was given and after about two bites of broth, thought he would throw up. He slept long, but every time he woke up it was a new experience in pain and grogginess.

"That's your body healing itself," Reem said when Lance complained about it, "and a little bit of morphine."

Lance had to appreciate Reem, however, because the old doctor never asked any questions about his injuries. He only asked Lance about preexisting issues or allergies that may inhibit their treatment of him.

When he was able to sit up without feeling dizzy, Reem congratulated him and Lance liked the sincere way the old man would celebrate each small achievement. He did it in a way that wasn't flippant or casual and it didn't make Lance question his progress.

In a few weeks Reem had him eating soft fruits and crackers. It was about this time that Shiro no longer would take 'no' for an answer.

He came walking in while Lance was trying to make his hand stop shaking so he could slowly lift the food to his mouth. The food slipped through his started fingers as Shiro walked over and sat in the chair next to the bed.

"Reem had to take a call in his office," Shiro said, "So I only have a little while to talk."

Lance didn't answer; he didn't say hello; he didn't even smile.

"Lance, we really are sorry we didn't see how you were being treated down in the Hangers. We only found out a little while ago that you've been wiped from the entire system. And we're going to get to the bottom of whatever is going on. We were really worried and-"

"Just go away," Lance said, finally speaking, "seriously. You have no idea what you're talking about. You're sorry people are mean to me? Great, fine, whatever, thanks. But don't think for a moment that you can actually sit there and tell me that you care, and I'll sit here and believe it."

Lance went back to his fruit and Shiro had to ground himself. His words were like a skillet to the face!

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked, wondering what it was that they had missed.

"Exactly," Lance answered, "Now leave me alone. You guys should be looking for a new Red paladin by now."

"whAT?" Shiro couldn't hold it back, "What are you talking about?!"

Lance sighed, and put down the food he'd just picked up, "I don't feel Red in my head anymore. She's gone. Believe me, I've tried to sync with her with every fiber of my being, but nothing doing. So, shoo and let me eat my lunch."

"Lance, there must be some reason-"

"Here's a reason, Commander," Lance said, meeting Shiros eyes for the first time, "I'm not a paladin. I'm not a hero. I'm not what everyone thinks I am. In fact, I doubt anyone has ever actually tried to get to know me. I'm not saying that to get you to pity me, but I am saying that so you'll realize that you need to find someone else to pilot Red! What if something happens tomorrow?! You wont have Voltron! The universe needs Voltron and since Red doesn't have a pilot right now, the universe is frankly screwed!"

"And," came Reeds voice from the door, "if the rest of the crew finds out that the Commander has broken Sickbay rules, there will be nothing but trouble for everyone in this department."

"I'm sorry," Shiro said quickly and turned back to Lance, "I don't believe for a second that you are not a paladin. I don't believe for a second that you aren't a hero. The moment YOU realize this you come and find me. We'll talk. Just us."

Shiro practically stormed out of Sickbay; his blood was boiling and he no longer cared who got in his way.


	6. Chapter 6

"Deep breaths," Pidge said, a healthy distance away from the livid fighter.

Shiro told them what Lance had said and it puzzled all of them.

"Red wouldn't shut him out like that," Keith said scowling, "not unless a better candidate was on board, but then that would've happened at the very beginning, not just all of a sudden."

"Even if a better candidate was around," Allura cut in, "the lions wouldn't just change pilots without a sign of some sort. Lance bonded completely with the Red lion the same as us all, so there is little to absolutely no chance of this happening."

"Will you take a look at the lions Allura?" Shiro asked, "maybe something is wrong with them directly."

"I'll take a look," she affirmed.

"Hunk," shiro said, making Hunk start slightly, "What has your 'gossip patrol' turned up? We've not heard anything from you."

"…." Hunk swallowed hard and looked like he wanted to run, "Maybe it would be best if I told you guys…after you all aren't so angry."

"Might as well tell them now and let them get it all out at once," Pidge said, "I'll lock us in, in case it causes uncontrollable murderous intent."

So Hunk told them about his findings:

No one would really tell him anything even when he told them that he was doing a social experiment. He got the few that they already knew: Pidges cloaking fun of horror; his secret ninja skills that the cadets were almost sure he was hiding; Shiro actually died ten separate times and in five of those tellings each of them had killed him by accident; Allura is dating Shiro; Allura is dating Keith; Allura is dating Iverson; Allura could see into your soul if you met her eyes; Keith turns purple under a full moon; Keith can turn full Galra when he chooses; Keith has to take medication to keep his Galra blood from taking over; Pidge and Shiro are dating; he and Lance are dating; Shiro and Lance were dating; Keith and Shiro were dating; and last but not least everyone lied in their reports to make Lance look better and seem more like part of the team.

"…"

"…I…I can't even…"

"And," Hunk sighed, "those were just the ones they were comfortable sharing with me."

"I don't know weather to laugh, cry, kill something, or throw up," Allura muttered, "why are most of my rumors about dating one of you?"

"I know," Pidge said finally, "do you really turn purple under a full moon, Keith?"

Pidge was barely holding back her laughter.

"This is ridiculous," Keith said, somewhat horrified, "is everyone really talking about us like that?"

"Why do they think we lied on our reports?" Shiro asked, forcibly pushing aside all the other rumors.

"I don't know," Hunk said, "I tried to find the start of the rumor train, but that went nowhere."

"What else," Allura asked, "you said this was only the start?"

Well," hunk said, "I started to look over security footage thinking if I could see who talked to whom then I could follow the trail back further and hopefully find a source."

"No luck."

"None," hunk nodded, "but I did go and talk specifically with those I noticed liked to talk with other people a lot. They seemed really social, so I thought they might know more."

"I'm afraid, but list them out," Shiro sighed.

"ok, but don't say anything until I'm done," Hunk said, "it was hard enough listening to it."

"Promise."

So he told them what he had gathered from the others, including Ryan: Lance actually can't fly the Red lion without permission; Lance almost got everyone killed on multiple occasions; Lance accidently killed Shiro (from before); The Voltron Team had Lance work in the hangers because they know he has no talent and wanted him out of the way; The Voltron team is looking for a replacement paladin, one more capable than Lance- apparently a note will arrive under your pillow in secret if the team sees you as a potential candidate; It was Lances fault that everyone wound up lost in space; The team has been trying to distance themselves from Lance because they can't stand his stupidity; The team thinks Lance is lazy and no good; Iverson can't even stand to look at Lance which is why Lance is in the Hangers.

"…."

"Pidge, where are you going?"

"Imma 'bout to kill something," she growled as she made her way to the door. Allura stopped her.

"why are all of these centered around Lance?" she asked, "accept for the shameless pairings these people seem to be enjoying, every one of those rumors with Lance are…are…"

"Wrong," Pidge helped, "spiteful, disgusting, horrible-"

"Those aren't just rumors," Keith said, "those are just flat out lies."

"What's more," Hunk added.

"There's more?!"

"Well, no more rumors that I could pick up, but I also found out that these things were being said well before we even left Earth. I'm sure there are people back home that have heard these."

"Of course," Pidge scoffed, "everyone talks to their families once a week."

"Which is what's making it worse," Hunk said, "The fact that everyone knows and we've done nothing and said nothing to the contrary all this time."

"But James and Cassy said that everyone down there had his back," Allura said, "surly people can see that this is all merely hearsay!"

"They also said they do their own thing," Hunk replied, "which means everyone not part of that group more than likely believes it."

"I am suddenly reminded why I never understood social science," Pidge grumbled.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Keith snapped, "do we get on the main com and tell these people how stupid they are? Do we address every single rumor? How do we fix this?"

They all looked at Hunk who threw up his hands, "I may have gathered the information, but social science was never my strong point either."

"There's five of us here," Pidge exclaimed, "how can none of us know what to do?!"

"Because peopleing was Lance's job," Shiro sighed and rubbed his face, "funny how the one member of the team that thinks he's not important is the one we really need at the moment."

"Kinda makes you wanna punch him in the face," Keith said nodding.

"I can't even joke like that anymore," Pidge sighed.

"So the main question," Allura said folding her arms, "is who is going to go talk to Lance about what we should do.

()

Lance hissed slightly as there was a knock on his door. He was comfortable with Reem and the regular nurses that came and went, but he really didn't want to see anyone else.

What kind of new punishment was this? Everyone kept telling him to calm down and to quiet down, but the moment he decided to do just that no one could leave him alone!

"Lance McClain?" A man with pepper gray hair entered and gave him an easy smile, "I am Dr. Willston. I was told you might want to talk to me."

"Might?" Lance repeated with a sinking feeling in his gut.

"I'm the head councilor on the ship," he said, "I was told that you might need my help. But I wont force you to talk to me. If you don't want to talk, that's fine. But I do want you to know that I am available to talk at any time. Day or night."

"Did the Commander tell you to come down here?" Lance asked, his gut twisting tighter.

"Does that matter?"

Lance rolled his eyes, "never mind. I don't wan to talk to someone who's just going to answer my questions with more questions. Its patronizing and rude."

Willston was slightly taken aback. Like Reem, he was a veteran and a chosen expert in his field. However this was his first time working with a child. He hadn't expected to come across such a solid wall of resistance.

Not wanting to talk was normal. Opening up meant being vulnerable. But he had heard from other child Psychiatrists that all he'd had to do was ask thoughtful questions and the kids normally did the rest.

Either they were wrong, or he was wrong for assuming that this was a child.

"Will you accept my apology?" he asked and Lance turned a look in his directing. Realizing his mistake he added, "right, that was another question. I am sorry."

Lance sighed, "danger of the profession?"

"Seems so," he nodded.

"So you going to answer my first question?"

Willston grinned, "I was asked by the commander to see you, but it was Dr. Reem who demanded I come as soon as possible."

"Do I look that bad?"

"That's Reems field of study," Willston said taking a seat by the bed, "my field is the messy stuff you can't see. So we can look all we want and not see a thing."

"Messy is a good way of putting it," Lance muttered.

"So, I found, is the term 'stuff'," Wilston nodded, "it's a term used a little too often in the masters program, especially around finals time."

Lance laughed.

()

"Sir," Ryan saluted as he handed Shiro a data card, "the reports from last month."

"Thank you," Shiro replied distracted.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Sir?"

"Not unless you know how to event plan," Shiro grumbled. This was more Alluras and Lance's thing. Even Hunk would do a better job, but everyone was off working and doing what they could to figure out their situation. Shiro had been left to hold down the fort.

"I'm pretty good at it," Ryan said with a wide smile, "I had to help my older sister with her wedding. And my dad has had more than one business dinner. May I take a look?"

Shiro looked the kid up and down and then handed the screen over to him. The boy bent over and observed the plans.

"Are there any rules?" Ryan asked, "Like so-n-so can't be seated next to so-n-so?"

"This is a coalition meeting and dinner," Shiro said, "the point is to intermingle."

"Is there anyone who…say, needs a close eye on them, or is higher up the alliance food chain?"

Shiro scowled, "I don't follow."

Ryan chuckled, "sorry. Think of this as a society chart. You have the leader of the alliance, with is Voltron, right?"

"Well, yes…"

"So you will all either be seated at the front or stragically placed in and among the others. However, the Princess, being a princess, has a high social standing. More adamant and/or loyal members would be given seats closer to the head of the table. This shows that they are leaders in their own right."

"I see," Shiro sighed. This was more complicated than he thought, "how about he pull a king Aurthor and work with a round table?"

"How many people are going to be there?"

"about 24?"

Ryan looked back at the screen and scowled, "that's a lot of bodies to fit around a table. And even then you can still apply that the closest seat to the princess are the ones of highest honor."

Shiro sighed and rubbed his head. The headache was a content pain now and only varied in strength.

"We could," Ryan said slowly, "intersperse all of you and I can see it I can't make it so that no one feels like they are getting special treatment one way or another. But it will take a while. Is it ok if I came up and work on this after I'm done with my job in the back?"

"You think you can?"

"I know I can," Ryan said confidently, "it will just take a few days, that's all."

"Then please and thank you," Shiro sighed, "now I can get to work on some other things."

"I'm glad I can help," Ryan said.

()

"Lance," Allura called knocking on his Sickbay door, "I'm coming in."

She walked in and stopped. Lance and a stranger were playing cards and both had a reactionary look of guilt.

"Allu-Allura," Lance cleared his throat, "what do you want?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something," she said eyeing the stranger, "who is this?"

"I am Dr. Willston," the man replied standing and holding out his hand, "Lance and I were just getting to know each other, but I can come back later."

"Allura isn't staying long," Lance said, "there's really nothing to talk about, so I don't know why she's even here."

"Excuse me?!" Allura snapped, "I don't remember ever sharing a mind with you. So how do you know what I have to say?"

"I don't," Lance said, "I just don't care."

Allura felt the heat rise in her face and she found she had nothing to respond with.

"I am going to step outside," Willston said carefully as he inched towards the door…and safety.

"You can talk if you like," Lance said as the door shut behind the doctor, "can't promise that I'll respond."

What was with the attitude?! Allura eyed the bandages around his wrists and noted the blanket that covered his lap.

"You done?" Lance asked.

"No," Allura snapped, "I mean, yes…I mean…quiznak Lance! We need you! We have no idea how to solve this problem and you've always been able to smooth everything over without even trying and we can't figure out how! There are people in this ship that are trying to subvert others positions, can't you please help us stop them?"

Lance huffed, "sure."

"Because- what?"

Lance rolled his eyes, "I said sure. I can help."

Allura frowned at him, but told Lance everything they knew. She told him about the rumors they'd found out and about Cassy and James.

"We don't want anyone to be targeted if we somehow talk to the wrong person," Allura said, "It was clear that you were targeted, and we really don't want to put you in any more danger. Can you tell us who did this to you?"

Lance laughed, but it didn't hold the usual warmth she was accustomed to.

"Boy," he snorted, "And I thought I was the stupid one."

Allura bit her tongue and waited. She'd said what she had come here to say. The ball was in Lance's court.

"Look, Cas and James are good people," Lance said, "but not every supervisor is out to get ahead. There are some good men down there, so please do not just upend everything. Truth be told its only one family that I pissed off and I didn't really even do anything. Iverson is the one that really pissed them off."

"How so?"

"After Keith left the garrison I took his place with the fighter pilots. Apparently an upperclassman didn't like that since his brother was supposed to be the one moved up. Its petty and stupid and really, the rumors and all the garbage they spew really doesn't bother me at all."

"But…" Allura scowled, "weren't they the ones that-"

"Look, Allura, I'm sure you're busy and I already helped you with the social mess you guys thought was going on. I'm telling you that yes, there are petty and pathetic people all over this ship, but that's not out of the ordinary. Now, we talked, you got your answer, so leave."

"Lance, we-"

"I don't want to hear it, Allura," Lance sighed, "I really, just, don't, care."


	7. Chapter 7

"Ok, now I'm confused," Pidge said, "I was following along until now."

"He said it was nothing but 'harmless hazing'," Allura seethed, "he refused to say anything about his injuries. He wouldn't even let me ask about them."

"Ok," Shiro stood and began to pace, "we have two trains of thought."

They had made Pidges lab their main meeting place. They would send everyone a message the moment one had news.

"One is that Lance is still covering for those who have him under foot and we're still faced with a horrid social problem. Or, it really was just them being jerks and somehow he got those injuries elsewhere."

"Where the heck would he have gotten them?!"

"How could he have gotten them while we're all on the same ship?" Keith asked, "if it really was the supervisors and other people on the ship, how were they able to not only do that much damage, but were able to break bones and have them magically heal in the mater of days and weeks? Ribs do not heal that fast, and hip bones take months to heal."

"And all of this without us noticing…" Shiro muttered as they all sunk into their own thoughts.

"Why would Lance cover for them?" hunk asked, "Saying the first one is the right one, why would Lance cover for the people that hurt him that bad?"

"Threats, shame, manipulation, fear, brainwashing," Allura said ticking off the possibilities on her fingers, "pick one."

"What about the lions, Allura?" Keith asked, "was there anything wrong with them?"

"I can't find anything different," she said with a sigh, "Red is temperamental, as you know, and doesn't seem to like me very much, but from what I was able to gather there's nothing wrong."

"But there is," Keith said sitting up, "Lance was hurt, and Red didn't react."

"Red is rather protective," Hunk said, "So why didn't she throw a fit?"

"GAAAAAAH!" Pidge grabbed her head, "we have more questions than we have means to find answers!"

Shiro looked to Keith, who in turn looked to Shiro.

"We should hold back," Keith said, drawing everyones attention, "If there is a huge issue in the Hangers, then they are bound to make their move soon and expose themselves. And if there isn't, then holding back will hopefully give Lance the space he needs. So, for now, keep your eyes and ears open, but continue with work as usual."

Shiro nodded, "I agree."

()

"You suck at this," Lance said, shuffling the deck of cards.

"Here I thought I was decent," Willston sighed, "so, what do you want to know?"

They were playing for information. If Lance won, he got a question answered, if the doctor won then he got a question answered. So far it was 8-5 in Lance's favor.

"Are you going to tell the Commander everything I tell you?"

"No," Willston answered, "You are considered an adult so everything we talk about is strictly between us."

"Unless someone is in danger, right?"

"If you exhibit tendencies of self harm or harm to others, then I am obligated to tattle on you, but that doesn't mean I have to tell them everything. Only what is applicable to your harmful behavior."

"Mmm…" Lance nodded, "Then no worries."

"Glad to hear it."

They played another game and this time Willston won.

"Why did you want to join the garrison?"

Lance sat back and let the doctor shuffle.

"I really liked flying," Lance said, "you know, I was just happy being a cargo pilot, but when I was given the chance to fly something faster I leapt at it."

"adrenaline junky?"

"guilty," Lance grinned, "I do like to go fast."

"And the sneaking out at night?"

"you mean you never did stuff like that when you were in school?"

"…"

"un-huh," Lance laughed, "I like exercising the skill I have at being able to sneak where ever I please."

"Yeah," Willston sighed thinking back, "I was just never really good at it."

"Its all about perception," Lance said and watched Willston deal, "Like how I know you are a fantastic card shark."

Willston froze.

"Its no fun when I know when I'm going to win or loose," Lance said picking up the cards he'd been dealt, "ah, so this time you will lose."

"You," Willston chuckled and shook his head, "You are a sharp one."

"Not really," Lance said, "I'm not nearly as smart as everyone else on the ship."

Willston snorted, "Let me tell you something. You may not be the brightest crayon in the box, Lance, but you are the sharpest tool in the shed. You notice things that normal people don't. Hell, in this short time we've known each other alone, you've gotten to know me more than I have you. And this is my job! I'm supposed to get paid for this! Frankly, this is kind of embarrassing."

"Since I called your bluff, you have to show me how you do it," Lance said, blushing at the compliment, but refusing to let it derail him.

"Only if you promise that you don't tell anyone else and you didn't learn this from me," Willston said, "this is the best way I've found that makes people comfortable enough to talk to me."

"Deal," Lance nodded.

()

"Lance is getting discharged today, right?" Pidge asked and Hunk nodded.

"I went down to talk to him, but was told in no uncertain terms that he'd not come out of the room if any of us were there."

Hunk was depressed and Pidge also became moody.

"Rude," Pidge muttered and sat back in her chair.

()

"You do know I have other patents," Willston said fiddling with a Rubix Cube. Lance lay on the floor as he fiddled with a puzzle ring.

"Gee, first day out of the joint and all of a sudden you don't wanna talk?" Lance asked not looking over.

"If its your first day out, why aren't you at work?" Willston asked, putting the finished puzzled down on the ground. Lance glanced over at it and clicked his tongue.

"Fine, I don't…remember how to work in the hanger…"

"…how so…"

Lance was silent for a while. Then he got up and, teetering for a moment to find his balance, he began to pace.

"I don't…well, its like…"

Willston waited for a while longer, but when it was clear that Lance was stuck, he prodded.

"Its not that you don't remember how TO work, but that you don't remember how YOU worked."

"I don't like riddles or word play," Lance groaned, flopping down on the couch.

"Think of this," Willston said, "when you left and joined Voltron you had various experiences and when you came back to Earth, nothing was the same. Of course when you came back there was a fight with the Galra, which had become familiar to you. But how do you think you would've felt if you had just come back and everything was normal? Do you think you could've just gone back to class at the garrison and gone back to everyday life?"

"…no…"

"the things we go through change us. We are fully capable of doing everything we did before, but after events in our life our views change."

"Soooo…how do I fix it?"

"Fix what?"

Lance rolled his eyes, "I need to go and work, how to I fix…me…"

"Let me give you another piece of advice," Willston grinned, "You don't fix what isn't broke. You're fine. Change is normal. What isn't normal is what brings about that change. And you said yourself, you 'need' to work. You have a good work ethic, even if you like to goof off."

"I don't want to 'need' to work," Lance said, "I want to 'want' to work. I used to enjoy work, but now just thinking about it makes me sick."

"Well," he said leaning back, "that could be depression. Its not uncommon for changes to make one feel depressed or anxious for a while."

"But it will pass?"

"Depends on how serious the cause of the change was," Willston sighed, "Do you mind if I stop tip toeing around the issue?"

Lance shrugged one shoulder, "Fine, just say it."

"It is clear that something traumatic happened. Now it could be depression, or it could be PTSD of sorts. Until you talk to me, I will not even mention medication because I refuse to play ring-around-the-pharmacy. Now. I do want you to take your time. There is no rush for this. I've talked to many soldiers who have had horrible experiences and didn't know if they could return to civilian life."

"…did they…in the end?"

"Some managed to," Willston said, "some did not. But their success says nothing about how you will succeed. So long as you're moving forward and accepting the help available to you, I'm sure you can find that 'want'."

Lance let that sink in. Then he nodded and stood.

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

"Next time you get the puzzle ring," Lance said walking toward the door.

()

The next day Lance snuck into the hanger and glanced at the job listings.

"McClain!"

Lance nearly jumped out of his skin.

"GUYS! MCCLAIN IS BACK!"

Wide eyed Lance watched as others ran up to him and hugged him. A few slapped his back and welcomed him back.

"Hey, hey, so what happened?"

Lance blinked, "what?"

"the commander just said you were sick and you were going to take some time off," a cadet said, "we know the flu had been going around, but you were gone for a while!"

"did it turn into bronchitis or something?"

"Dude, are you still contagious, cause I can't afford to get pneumonia again."

"Are you sure you're ok? Cause you're a red as a tomato."

Lance grinned, "yeah, I'm fine. And no, I'm not contagious anymore."

"Alright, break it up!" Brad called, coming over, "everyone back to your stations!"

The cadets and personnel scattered, leaving Lance standing by the job board.

"You are under Supervisor Jacobs," Brad shrugged, "so hurry up."

"Yes, Sir," Lance said turning to go.

"Coward."

Lance kept going. The Pillons were no longer his number one problem.

()

It took a few days to get back into the swing of things, but now that he had a supervisor and, essentially, a direction to go in, he found that his worries were slowly easing. He still woke up everyday sick to his stomach about going to work, but once he was there, it was much easier. Supervisor Jacobs was a stern, yet fair man and someone Lance didn't mind working under.

He spent every other evening with Willston. Sometimes they would talk, sometimes they just sat in silence for an hour or two.

The Atlas was nearing its destination and everything had to be ready for the Olkaries to come in and do what they needed to do.

Lance and Jamie were doing inventory in Hanger 3 one day when blue lights began to flash. A voice on the com informed them that Hanger 1's bay doors were opening to allow a ship to doc.

"I heard that the guys showing up today are bigwigs," Jamie said, tugging her gloves off so she could retie her hair, "any idea who they might be?"

"Nope," Lance said grinning, "depending on who they are I might just want to stay down here and out of their sight. Some of them just didn't latch on to my sense of humor."

She laughed, "Like who?"

"like these guys whos faces come out like this," he pulled a face and pressed his fingers into his cheeks, "I tried to help Allura out with diplomacy stuff and it all seemed to be going well until we reached that planet. It really didn't end too well. Hunk had to come in a save my skin."

"I bet it wasn't that bad."

"oh, but it was," Lance said and chuckled at the memory, "the problem we sometimes had was that some races don't understand that human skin isn't as thick as theirs, so when they get upset and sentence us to a 'mild-punishment' we had to explain to them that that would actually kill us."

"Uh-oh," Jamie grimaced.

"I know-"

"No, we're five boxes short," she said pointing to the pallet in front of her.

"Quiznack," Lance muttered, "did you count twice?"

"three times," she said, "we are five short."

"Think it might be in Hanger 2?"

"Spare me,' she sighed, "we'll do that one last. I'll just add five boxes of rivets to the ever growing list of misplaced items that may or may not be in Hanger 2."

The second Hanger, specifically its supply closet, had gained the reputation of somehow being the end portal of where all missing items ended up. Can't find the screwdriver you set down five minutes ago? Check Hanger 2. Can't seem to remember where your lunch went? Check Hanger 2. Lose your left shoe? Hanger 2.

"its going to be like that swamp of lost random junk," Lance said not really expecting his movie reference to be understood, but was pleasantly surprised when it was.

"We'll just call you the bag lady from now on," she shrugged.

"Oooh, how cruel," Lance wiggled his fingers in her direction as he mimicked the bag lady character, "I believe you have something of miiine~"

She laughed and they quoted the movie back and forth as they finished up their work. They were just heading out to start work in Hanger 4 before dinner when they ran into an officer diplomat, his tie pin buffed to a shine.

"Cadet," he said to Jamie and turned to Lance, "Paladin."

Lance didn't correct him, and he didn't salute the way one should a foreign dignitary.

"I was wondering if you could-

"PALADIN!"

Lance winced and the officer jumped a little. Storming down the corridor was Kolivan, his white braid swaying back and forth as he walked. His frame seeming to fill the entire hall.

"Cripes, Kolivan!" Lance clutched his chest, "I nearly DIED!"

"It is good to see you," Kolivan said in his bland manner that totally belied the force he'd previously called out to them with.

"Really?" Lance asked. He'd thought the Blades had little to no patience with him. Lance would have put the Blades in the category to 'avoid' unless he was with Shiro or Keith who were much closer with them.

"Indeed," Kolivan replied.

"Are you who just came in a while ago?" Jamie asked, a little too excited as she got a good look at an alien for the first time.

Kolivan nodded.

"I am Kent," the officer replied sticking his hand out to introduce himself. Kolivan just stared at him, then nodded a greeting before turning back to Lance.

"I have a request," he said.

"you know Keith is just up stairs, right?" Lance asked, "I'm sure he'd jump at the chance to go running off with you guys."

Lance grabbed Jamies arm and turned her to head back down the hall, but Kolivan put a hand on Lances shoulder.

"Perhaps," Kent said putting his hands up, "I could help you? These kids are rather busy at the moment."

Kolivan let out a long sigh and Lance cringed a little.

"Listen well, human," Kolivan said to Kent, "this is a paladin of Voltron, not a youngling. Beside him I see a female who is old enough to fight her own battles, not a youngling."

"I like him," Jamie said grinning up at Lance, "I really like him."

"What do you need Kolivan?" Lance asked for some reason still not bothering to correct them. Kolivan seemed to gather himself for a moment before responding.

"I seem to have misplaced the guide and can not find the bridge."

Lance's hand flew up to his face and he covered him mouth.

"You're lost?" Jamie asked and Lance snorted as his shoulders shook. He was having such a hard time holding it all in, but he knew the proud Kolivan wouldn't be able to handle it.

"It seems I am," Kolivan nodded, "I was finding my own way when I saw the Red Paldin. We both would be needed with the others soon."

"I doubt it," Lance said, sobering, "I'll give you a tour of the Hangers while I find someone to take my place and help out Jamie, then I'll show you how to navigate this place."

"I can find a helper on my own," Jamie said, "You go on."

"I'm the one leaving you out to dry, I'll find my replacement," Lance insisted, "just hurry up to 4 and get started."

"Right-o," she said and then smiled up at Kolivan, "hope to see ya around~!"

As she ran off Lance gave the galra a sneeky smile, "I think she likes you~"

"I don't understand what you mean," he replied, "can we go now?"

"Sure, sure," Lance sighed and turned to the officer, "Anything I can do for you Sir, while I'm at it?"

"No, it was nothing. Have a good day," he said, an unassuming smile never leaving his face. As he disappeared from sight Lance shuddered.

"You are scared of him?"

"Warry, Kolivan, I'm warry of him," Lance said, "And don't go mentioning this to the others, promise?"

"…"

Lance found someone to take over for him while he showed Kolivan the way to the bridge. Of course then everyone had to be introduced to him and that took a while. As they made their way up the stairs Lance explained.

"So the ship was built by military engineers which means it wont make sense to anyone its not supposed to. They took designs from aircraft carriers and all those models so that if the ship is boarded by hostiles, they will have one hell of a time trying to find their way."

"And your allies?" Kolivan growled as he hit his knee against one of the rails.

"You get the benefit of knowing how it works first hand," Lance said, "can you imagine Galra forces, though, trying to get to the bridge or the other hangers and finding them selves in the laundry room? Oh man, hunk and I laughed about that for hours!"

"It seems to be a rather simple security measure."

"Simple, but effective," Lance added, "it might not give us much of the advantage in strength or anything, but if we know the battle field better than they do-"

"-then even an inferior force will come out on top," Kolivan nodded, "simple, yet effective."

Lance taught him how to follow the numbers on the head boards.

"Head boa-" Kolivan smacked his head along the metal protruding from the ceiling for the tenth time.

"The head boards," Lance nodded, this time not bothering to hide his grin, "called that for a reason. The numbers tell you where you are on the ship and how far you have to go."

When they got to a certain point Lance pointed to the head board nearest and asked Kolivan if they should go right or left.

The Galra pointed to the left and Lance shook his head.

"Then it is straight, because I know it is not to the right."

Lance grinned, "See, you got it already. Took me months to be able to narrow it down to two."

"You explain things clearly," Kolivan replied and Lance stopped in his tracks.

"What?!"

Kolivan was confused at the boys reaction.

"You explain things clearly. Maybe a little patronizing at times, but you have a talent of simplifying complicated matters."

Lance blinked, "was…that a compliment?!"

"…"

"Wow," Lance laughed, "I thought you guys hated me."

"we do not hate you," Kolivan said, "your energy is incomprehensible."

"Huh, interesting," Lance said, trying to think back. Had he been acting out before?

They made their way further through the ship and when they reached a pair of doors Lance stopped.

"this is the bridge," Lance said, "I have to get going, but I hope you guys-"

"You are required to be here as well," Kolivan replied.

"Ah, about that," Lance said backing away, "I'm really not a paladin anymore. Red kinda kicked me out, so I'm just going to go back to work."

"I see,"Kolivan said, "has the Red lion accepted another paladin in your place?"

"…I don't know," Lance shrugged, "Not that I know of."

"Then you are still a member of Voltron," Kolivan said, "I may not understand your out bursts, but I am aware that the others feed off of it."

"...you make them sound like vampires…"

"We have been called by Keith and Shrio for our expertise and knowledge, I'm sure your input would be required as well."

"I highly doubt it…"

"How high?"

Lance laughed, "Very high. You see they-"

The door opened and Hunk practically launched himself on top of Lance. Wrapping his arms around his long time friend, Hunk wasn't going to let go any time soon.


	8. Chapter 8

"That's cheating," Lance muttered into Hunks shoulder.

"I thought I heard your voice!" Hunk cried.

Lance looked past him and into the bridge where the others were standing. They looked about as awkward as he felt. Facing them all he knew he could never hate them…but it hurt.

And it got worse as he looked around the Bridge.

Standing in between Keith and Pidge was Ryan, looking on with mild interest. Lance couldn't stand to see that.

"Let go Hunk," Lance sighed, "I've got to get back down to the Hangers. I only came to bring Kolivan since he got lost."

Hunk responded by holding tighter.

"…H-hunk….um…hunk, really…ow…owowowow-"

Hunk let go and stared at him, "I'm sorry, you ok?"

"Yeah," Lance rubbed his shoulder and nodded to everyone, "See you all later…maybe."

He turned to leave, but kolivan reached out and grabbed the collar of his shirt, dragging him backwards.

"You have duties as a Paladin of Voltron, to put other chores above those duties shows a level of incompetence I will not tolerate."

"Ohh," Lance rolled his eyes, "I'm shaking in my slippers. I told you, I'm NOT a paladin anymore! So back off!"

"Prove it."

Lance glared at Keith who had stepped forward, arms crossed. The black paladin looked down his nose at Lance with every bit of smugness he could muster.

"Prove what?"

"Prove that you're not a paladin," Keith said, "I dare you. I want you to go to the Lions hanger and SHOW us that Red doesn't respond."

Fear took hold and that knife in his gut dug a bit deeper.

"…why-"

"Because I don't believe it," Keith snapped, "and until I see it with my own eyes, I wont believe it."

Lance closed his eyes and sighed, "fine. Don't believe me. When can you clear your schedules so that I can publicly make a fool of myself?"

"Che," Keith snapped. He marched forward, grabbed a handful of Lances shirt and began to drag him back down the hall.

"Sorry," Shiro said turning to Krolia, "first things first."

"I understand," Krolia replied and she and Kolivan stayed on the bridge.

()

"Keith, stop," Lance gripped his wrist and tried to pull his hand off his shirt as he was dragged along, "…serius-ly, Keith…I …I can't-"

As the descended the stairs, Lances foot slipped and caught under the metal stairs. It was a good thing they were almost to the bottom and simply fell on the floor.

"I CAN'T FEEL THE FLOOR KEITH!" Lance shouted as he picked himself up, "it takes a while for me to gain my balance after I stand let alone while being dragged across the ship!"

"Well that's just peachy!" Keith brushed himself off as the others gathered on the stairs to watch the fight, "good thing you told me NOW, ya know, AFTER I dragged you! You could have told us that a long time ago, but nooo~ you had to spend all this time throwing a PITTY PARTY!"

Lance felt blood vessels start to burst in his head.

"…yeah," he said darkly, "I threw a party after I went 'joy-riding'."

Lance started to walk away.

"Don't leave until I'm done yelling at you!" Keith yelled.

"I thought you wanted to go see the lions, oh mighty leader!" Sneered Lance, "Make up your emo mind jerk-face!"

"Oh insults now? How original."

"why not?" Lance threw up his hands as he lead the group to the Lions Hanger, "its not like you guys ever set much score with what I said anyway."

"What? All I heard was "pitty poor pitty me"," Keith sneered.

"Oh?" Lance asked, "are you going deft?"

"No, you just need to-"

"And we're here, of fearless leader," Lance said, his voice dripping sarcasm, "watch."

Lance punched in his code.

Nothing happened.

"Oh Hell no," Pidge growled, brining up her screen, "I put you right back into the database myself. I coded it. I firewalled it. The president information had more potential to being leaked than your information being deleted!"

But sure enough, it was gone.

"After you," Lance said stepping to the side to let someone else enter the code. Keith punched in his code and let his eyes be scanned.

The door opened to reveal that the Red lion had moved its self to the Hanger doors, like a pet waiting for its owner to be let outside.

"Now that's odd," Allura said as they walked up behind the great cat.

"Doesn't matter where it is," Keith said turning to Lance, "Go on. Prove it."

Lance gave Keith a healthy glare and marched around the red lion.

"Hey Red!"

Nothing.

Lance rested a shaky hand against the lions leg. The metal was cold and Red didn't move. He tried to connect, allowing him mind to focus and relax. But he came to a type of wall and Red wouldn't respond.

"Happy?" Lance asked turning to the others.

"Damnit!" Keith snapped, "Why would we be happy!?"

"Maybe McClain just needs to rest some more?' Ryan said walking towards Lance. Anyone looking would see Ryan moving to comfort Lance. But Lance saw it as the little fink presenting himself to the red lion.

And the lion moved.

Red stood and took a step back, lowering its head to Ryan. Everyone stopped, shocked as Red opened its mouth.

"The Hell?"

Lance fought back tears and he turned his head. So he didn't see what everyone else did.

Keith and Shiro moved with reactionary speed, grabbing Ryan and throwing themselves out of the way of the lazer that fired out of Reds mouth. The blasting sound echoing in the large hanger and Lance staggered out of the way as the vibrations traveled up in numb and damaged feet.

"That's never happened before."

"THE HELL!"

"Scatter!"

Red had lost it. She thrashed and shot lasers everywhere. Her tail scrapping along the walls and her roars causing them all to fall to their knees, covering their ears.

"To your lions!" Keith yelled between Reds roars, "Shiro-!"

"I've got them!"

Shiro scooped up a paralyzed Ryan and grabbed a slightly stunned Lance. They Ran to the double doors but was blocked off and Red trashed, knocking over a beam.

"Bad kitty!" Hunk shouted as he came between Red and the wall facing the rest of the ship. Allura and Pidge set up along the other walls and Keith engaged Red, trying to pin the rogue lion down.

Their way blocked, Lance pulled on Shrio and they ran behind part of the beam that stuck out. Ducking behind it offered little protection, but it was the best they had.

"It-it-it-it- it tried to KILL me!" Ryan practically shrieked.

"It's a good kitty," Lance muttered.

"What's going on?" Shiro shook his head, "Lance, are you aware of it at all?"

"Nope," Lance gave a one shoulder shrug, "I told you, I can't feel her in my head anymore."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing."

"It tried to kill me!"

"We're aware!" Shrio and Lance said together. Where Lance grinned, Shiro continued.

"This isn't normal," he said in his most calming voice even though there were blasts and sounds of fighting vibrating around the room.

"You think?!"

"We're going to figure this out, so-"

A huge explosion rocked the whole ship as Red used its ion cannon to blast a hole to freedom. It flew out before anyone could block it. The suction began to drag everything towards the hole.

"Shiro, we're all going after Red!" Keith called through the com, "Allura seal the hole with Ice to keep the integrity of the ship till they can get it fixed."

"Be careful out there!" Shiro called as they left.

Lance lay on his back and Shiro was taking deep breaths. Ryan was shaking and wringing his hands.

Lance started to laugh.

"The…the look on your face…" Lance choked as he curled up on his side, laughing Ryan glared at him.

"I don't find this very funny," Shiro sighed, "Its concerning. This really isn't normal."

"Oh no, the situation with Red is serious," Lance chuckled as he sat up, "but Pillons face…so smug…so-so….pffffff…"

There was a sniffing and they looked to see Ryan almost in tears.

"Why are you always so mean!" he cried, "all you do is bully others! All you do is-"

"And this is my cue," Lance sighed, getting up.

"Wait-"

"Commander, I'm going to leave before I turn that…sobbing mess of a human into a mess of broken bone."

"Lance, please," Shiro stood, "come back to the bridge and we'll talk with Kolivan and Krolia. We called them because you mentioned that the ship you saw a while ago was Galra."

"Oh you mean you were listening?" Lance asked with mock surprise, "that's new."

"How is that new?" Shiro argued back. He'd seen how talkative Lance had become when Keith got him angry.

"Mm, I guess I should say 'about time' instead," Lance asked and began to climb over the mess to get to the door.

"About time for what?!"

Lance stopped and turned, perching on top of the mess.

"If I have to explain it, its not worth it! The longer it takes you all to figure it out, the more I'm absolutely sure you really never saw me as a teammate to begin with. And you've pretty much replaced me anyway."

Shiro glanced down at Ryan.

"You mean this?!"

Lances eyes widened as well as Ryans.

"I mean, I knew you were impressionable, Lance, but I didn't think you were petty."

Lances eyes narrowed, "I'm not falling for that."

Lance turned again and hopped down the other side of the wreckage and out of sight.

Shiro swore and glanced down at Ryan again who was still staring at him in unbelief.

"…sorry, about that…"

()

"Where is it going?!" hunk shouted, "Allura?"

"Its still ahead of us," She said, taking another scan, "Quiznack, it had to be the fastest one that's going crazy!"

"It must have some destination," Keith said, "Red wouldn't just freak out like this without a reason."

"I know it used to be your lion, Keith," Pidge said, "but that lion almost killed that weird guy."

"…he probably asked for it," Keith muttered. He recalled talking to the guy before and how now, with all their new information, he'd been stupid to take what he'd said at face value.

"No one asks to be turned into dust on the wind, Keith," Pidge snapped.

"Its banking left!" Allura called, and they turned to follow.

()

"This is the Atlas," Shiro called, "Keith, do you hear me?"

"Yeah, you're coming in clear," Keith said, "Red is still flying fast."

"We're about a quintant away from the Olkaries planet."

"I don't think we're gonna make it."

"Try to at least make it to Aris, alright?"

"We'll keep in touch," Keith said, "the conference will be on Aris after the ship is fixed, right?"

"That's the plan so far," Shiro sighed, "Voltron needs to be there."

"Then we'd better grab Red. Voltron doesn't exist without all five members."

Shiro nodded.

"We see a lot is going on," Krolia said as they hung up, "I take it our objectives are changing?"

"Not entirely," Shiro said, "I still would like you and Lance to talk. If he can explain what he saw we'll be able to figure out what was going on before."

"And?"

"And if we could catch each other up on the galactic stage, then everything should go smoothly for the next little while at least."

"Then I shall go find Lance and Kolivan and you can discuss," Krolia replied and Kolivan nodded, "If I fail, then we'll switch places."

Kolivan shook his head, "I do not understand how this is complicated."

"Neither do I," Shiro muttered looking around and spotting Ryan. Krolia Left, the door shushing behind her.

"I'm very sorry, Sir," Ryan replied, "I wasn't much help."

"Its fine," Shiro said, "we ourselves almost didn't make it. No one would expect you to. But its odd. Lance is actually a very caring individual. Have you guys fought before?"

Ryan shifted uncomfortably, "I saw him as a rival. We were both aiming to be fighter pilots and when he was moved up, he spent no time rubbing it in everyones face. I know he's just hyper active, but he said somethings that just rubbed salt in, you know? Then he and everyone disappeared and suddenly he's a hero and gets to rub that in our face…"

Shiro didn't believe it for a second. It was true that Lance had a tendency to not read the mood when he got excited, but he would never intentionally be cruel.

"But I guess its my fault for being too soft," Ryan shrugged, "I'm sorry I got him upset."

"I'm sure if you just talk to him about it, he'll listen," Shiro said, "Go back to work and when everything is settled we'll all talk again."

"Yes Sir," Ryan beamed and left.

"Lance is wary of that ones father," Kolivan said.

()

"Guys…" Hunk groaned, "We left too fast. I'm starved and we have no means of getting food right now."

"I'm hungry as well," Allura sighed, "We left before dinner."

"You can go back if you want," Keith said, not unkindly, "I know we left unprepaired, but we realy can't let Red go without someone on her tail. Something is wrong with Red AND with Lance and if we solve one problem, we might be able to solve the other."

"Lance would be pissed to hear you call him a 'problem'," Pidge said, but grinned.

"Then he shouldn't BE a problem," Keith seethed, "none of this would be happening if he'd just come to us in the first place!"

()

"Hold, hold, hold," Shiro waved at Kolivan to stop, "that brown haired guy that was here a little while ago…his father is that guy named 'Kent'…and you met this Kent?"

"Yes," Kolivan said, "The red paladin did not seem to like him."

"Kent is a diplomat on this ship. He was to be the human contact with the Ralishs," Shiro frowned, "How would Lance know him?"

"If he is a diplomat, why was he around the Hangers without an escort?" Kolivan put forth his own question, "Since I trust Voltron, I will trust his instinct on this."

Shiro doubted it was instinct. Lance was a naturally trusting person, which is where he usually got himself into trouble. What did this Kent guy, and by default Ryan, do to make Lance find Ryans almost death funny?

"Let's put this on a side burner," Shiro sighed, as much as he wanted the matter solved that instant, he knew it wouldn't be, "what can you tell me about where the Blades stand at this time?"

()

Willston unlocked his office door and paused after opening it.

Lance lay face down on the couch, his head between two of the throw pillows. He wasn't an expert on body language, but you didn't have to be to be able to read this one.

Without speaking he flipped the switch outside his door that said he was with a patent, locked the door, then went to go make himself some coffee. Lance didn't move.

Sitting with a sigh in his chair he sipped his drink and observed the prostrate boy across the table at him.

"It seems I owe my brother an apology," Willston said into his cup, "I told him only he would break into a shrinks office before dawn."

"…we're in space…there is no dawn…" His voice was muffled but Wilston was fluent in 'pillow' and 'ugly sobs'.

"Its 5am," the doctor sighed, "did you sleep at all?"

"…nooooo…"

"Since this is the middle of space, I can assume that, unlike my little brother, you aren't here because you got waisted and need to borrow money from me. So I can only assume you did something else you regret."

"…whyyyy….."

"That is a loaded question," he said taking another sip of coffee.

"…why don't I just tell them why I'm pissed…."

"Fair question," Wilston said, "I have no answer for that."

Lance sat up and glared, "It pisses me off just thinking that I have to explain it to them, but then the longer they're clueless, the worse everything gets! Can you believe they actually thought I got these injuries on the Atlas?! How stupid!"

Willston responded with another sip.

"Why do I have to explain it?! Why don't they already know?! Why is it so awkward!?"

"Ah," Willston nodded, "Finally a question I may know the answer to. But first, why don't you tell me what happened yesterday?"

Lance pouted, but explained how he'd run into kolivan and how everything got out of hand when he'd been caught outside the bridge.

"Explain what happened with the lion again," he said and Lance sighed and complied. It was humiliating.

"I thought Red was going to pick Ryan, but when she shot at him…I'll admit, I was more happy and relieved than worried about his safety."

"Hate the guy?"

"His whole family is one rotten tomato patch…but…does…does that mean you're obligated to tell the Commander, since I put him in danger?"

"but you didn't," Willston said standing to get another cup of coffee, "you said the Lion is cut off from you. So you have no control over what happened. However you said something that confuses me."

"What's that?" Lance sighed.

"You said you met a wall when you tried to 'connect' and then turned around and said that 'she wasn't there'. Which one is it?"

"Which one is what?"

"Is there a wall there or is it empty space? It can't be both ways."

Lance scowled and Willston continued.

"This could also go into your question of why its so awkward. I'm not going to pretend I know anything about sentient robot cats, in fact, before all this I would have diagnosed you with paranoid schizophrenia and signed my name without a second thought. But, since we can rule that out, I'm going to ask another question: How would this be different? You ask why this is so awkward, well, what wouldn't make it awkward?"

Lance thought about what was said as Willston drank his coffee. It was going to be a multiple cup morning.

"…I was wrapped up with everything else going on, I didn't realize Red had…stopped…its like a content presence, and I didn't realize it was gone. And then with everyone else being so busy…I understand that they're busy and I'm not upset with them about that, but…it was lonely."

Willston was afraid to even move. He'd dealt with those like Lance, where it takes a long time for them to open up. It takes a long time for them to really face or even figure out what the matter was or to even realize that there is a problem. Willston froze in order to not interrupt his patent in any way.

"I don't want to make them feel bad. They're not at fault…but…"

The door flew open with a bang.

Krolia stepped into the room, took everything in with a glance, then bent over, picking Lance up and putting him over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Willston said standing, and more irritated than he let on, "could you please put him down? We were talking."

"My turn," Krolia said, "I've looked everywhere on this ship."

The last part showed how irritated she, herself, was.

"Put me down, Krolia!" Lance snapped, "Don't you have a kid to chase down? Make sure he's changing his underwear every day?"

She just walked out. Willston followed closely, his professional pride raked, he refused to leave his patent. They made their way to the lions hanger, still damaged from the day before. Krolia sat him down on the rubble, away from the door and folded her arms.

"Speak."

Lance glared back.

Willston looked from one to the other. The tension in the room was immense and even though he was upset that they had been interrupted, he also was very curious about how this would pan out.

"No," Lance said, folding his own arms.

"we were called, don't waste our time."

"I wasn't the one who called you," Lance shrugged, "Not my problem."

"Stop behaving like a youngling!"

"Stop sticking your nose in where it don't belong," Lance gave a one shoulder shrug, "as I see it, this has nothing to do with the Blades."

"No, it has to do with our allies and my childs good friend."

Lance turned red and Willston approved of the alliens well placed comment.

"Che, calling your mom is so uncool…"

"how about we start with the simple reason I'm here," Krolia sighed, "describe the ship you saw."

"I think I'd rather have duct tape ripped off my arm," Lance growled.

"That can be arranged," she growled back.

"Or," Willston said, cutting in for the first time, "we can find out why physical pain is preferable to giving you information."

"why would we do that?" Lance and Krolia said together.

"because I say so," Willston said, putting his foot down, "as a doctor I hold authority even Commander Shiro can not impede on. And I DEMAND that we do this MY way." Smiling, he added, "Understood?"

Krolia and Lance glanced at each other and nodded. They understood the man was crazy, and one did not argue with crazy.


	9. Chapter 9

Shiro started awake.

Kolivan was snoring something fierce.

They were sitting at a conference table where they decided to lay out all their maps the night before. Shiro felt like his brain would never be clear again.

"Kol-mm, Kolivan, wake up," Shiro smacked the Galra who stopped snoring at once. Slowly he sat up and looked around while shiro rubbed his face.

"What happened?"

"We fell asleep while talking."

"…that has never happened before."

Shiro laughed, "Add that to the ever growing list of things that have never happened before."

Kolivan made a disgruntled noise and stood up. He checked his com unit and stood straighter.

"We were asleep for a whole day?!"

Shiros eyes widened and staggered his way to the door. Throwing the conference door open he found the bridge intact…and not on fire.

"Ah, you're up," Iverson said, walking over, "I told everyone that they were not to bother you under pain of court marshal."

"Why would you-"

"Shiro," Iverson sighed, "I admire your drive and hands on approach to leadership. But delegating seems to be a lost art to you. There are many fully capable men and woman on this ship that can carry out meetings and interdisciplinary courses."

Shiro felt his face redden. It seemed he also had a lot more to learn.

()

"What is that?"

"Guys…"

"You don't think-"

"Guuuys…."

"Pull up!"

The paladins scattered.

Red was making a b-line to a ship that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They saw, rather than heard, the fighter jets coming at them. The ship was larger than a Galra cruiser, but had an eerie similarity to it. And the fighter jets looked exactly like they belonged to the Galra, except they didn't make any noise what so ever.

"What kind of mufflers are they using?!" Hunk squealed, "I can't tell where they're coming from!"

"Allura, Hunk," Keith snapped, "Pair up and watch each others back. Pidge, you're with me!"

"Roger!"

They were focused on their dogfight, they didn't notice Red pick up speed to get past the fighters. Then, in one smooth motion, the lion fired. A long jet of lasers, one after the other slammed into the ships barrier. Flames erupted from the lion as it got closer.

The fighter jets fired, but it didn't seem to do anything to the enraged lion. As the lion began to dig its claws into the barrier of the ship, the jets engaged with the paladins left to fiend off the more damaging threat.

"What is Red doing?!"

The ships barrier began to flicker. That's when Keith got a hail from the ship. The alien was covered in a light gray suit, its helmet black, hiding itss face.

"We surrender!"

"Sorry," Keith said, "We have no control over it."

"WE SURRENDER!"

"Hunk?" Keith asked.

"I can try…" Hunk said flying forward rammed as hard as he could against Red, knocking it off the Ship.

"Allura, Freeze it."

Encasing the lion in a block of ice Allura watched it and added to it as Red tried to melt the ice.

"You keep watch, Allura," Keith sighed, "We'll try to settle this."

Keith flew with Pidge and Hunk flanking him into one of the holes that Red had managed to gouge out of the ship. They had diverted their power to the shield so that they could repair the damage.

Landing in a spacious Hanger, Keith hopped out, his bayard out and ready in case they turned hostile. But he needn't have worried. Every allien had their hands up and out to show they were empty.

The one that had appeared on their screen came into the hanger and bowed.

"We ask for mercy," he said, his voice broken and hesitant.

"We're not here to hurt you," Keith said, "we're here to find out why the Red lion wants to obliterate you."

The alien stood straight and tilted his head to one side.

"You are…humans?"

"yeeeaaah?"

The allien nodded, "then I might know why if that lion is close with the last human my people came across.

Keiths jaw clenched, "Explain."

()

"Approaching the planet of the Olkaries," came a voice over the com units all over the ship. But it didn't drown out Lance yelling.

"-AND THEY WOULDN'T HAVE BATTED AN EYE!"

Shrio stood in the doorway to the lions hanger. Lances face was twisted with rage as she glared at Krolia and Willston.

"A MONTH! I was gone a WHOLE MONTH! Not a single person on this stupid ship noticed! Oh sure, its all 'stop being so dramatic lance' when everything is hunky-dory, but the moment poor, pathetic lance gets sick, yeah, that's the only time they actually care! Seems that's the only way I can get their attention! SO NO! I refuse to tell you what that ship looked like because if it wasn't important BEFORE I was sick, then it sure as hell can't be important NOW! I refuse to be patronized like that! If they really cared, they would've believed me when I told them about it first!"

Lance took a deep breath to collect himself. Willston looked over at krolia.

"The guys got a point," he said with a shrug.

"indeed," Krolia nodded, "However, how many times did you not notice the others needed your help? You say you don't hate them, however, none of you noticed when Shiro was in need. Yet, he forgave you without even thinking that anything was wrong in the first place."

Lance stared at his shoes. Krolia was right, of course. He knew it before she even pointed it out…but he didn't have Shiros confidence.

But was that an excuse?

"That's what's making it awkward, right?" Willston asked, his smile a kindly one, "Its not wrong to get angry, but you realized your mistake and couldn't find an opening to fix it yet. The issue with your lion is complicating matters. Try focusing on one problem."

Lance nodded, still not looking up.

"Krolia!" Shiro called as if he'd just walked in, but that didn't stop the blood from draining out of Lances face, "Kolivan needs you up top."

"Then I shall leave, for now," she sighed.

"I also believe I saw a line outside your door, doctor," Shiro said, "thank you for your care and work."

"My pleasure," Willston said, eyeing Shiro and Lance, "Try not to ruin my hard work, alright?"

()

Shiro sighed and sat on the rubble pile. Lance stood by and didn't say anything.

"I just got told off by Iverson," Shiro said, closing his eyes, "its been so long since I'd been told off like that, I forgot how much I really never liked the man."

In spite of himself, Lance snorted and grinned.

They were quiet for a time. Since handing the controls over to Iverson and his crew, Shiro felt so much better. His headache was going away and he felt that he could now focus on things that actually matter.

"…I'm sorry…"

Shiro blinked and frowned. Lance, face horribly red and eyes quickly filling with tears kept his eyes on his shoes.

"...i'm…I'm really…sorry…"

()

"A number of feebs ago a number of our ships were separated from our fleet," the captain of the alien ship explained as he lead the paladins through the ship, "I and my sister ship were sent out to find this missing vessel. We found it a few quintants ago."

He stopped before a long window. Inside the room the window looked into was an alien with four long fingers with five joints. Its eyes were large and there were three of them and its mouth stretched from floppy ear to floppy ear. He looked to be the same species as the allien that was showing them around, but he didn't have the same suit on.

"This was the only survivor we found on that ship," the captain said, "I am embarrassed to say that he is one of us."

"Why are you embarrassed?" Hunk asked.

"He looks sick," Pidge said wrinkling her nose. The captain nodded.

"An illness wiped out then entire crew," he said, "we realized this too late. Some of my crew was exposed and are now in confinement."

"You said you ran into a human before?" Keith asked his gut sinking.

"We did not," the captain said, "this one, did. We wished to find out what happened to the crew of the missing ship and so extracted their logs. It seems they ran into a strange obgect containing a subject that they'd never encountered before. One that called himself a 'human'."

"And your kind simply take pleasure in torturing people at random?" Keith asked through clenched teeth.

"My people have never dealt in the harming of persons," the captain replied, sounding insulted, "In fact, we do not go outside our boundaries. We are a private race and dislike outsiders."

"So whats so different about these guys?"

"They are of a new order on my planet," the captain sighed, "they are desirous to explore and discover. We of The Home find it necessary to remain focused on our own system, while the 'Adventurers'- as they like to call themselves- can not stay put if you were to burry them into the center of the planet."

"So let me get this straight," Pidge said holding up both her hands, "it just so happens that the stars aligned where Lance just so happened to be in the wrong place and the wrong time?!"

"That still doesn't excuse the way he was treated," Keith seethed.

"It does not," the captain nodded, "which is why I understand your attack. If I and my ship can repay and close the debt owed, it would be my honor, so long as my people as a whole are not invaded or bothered."

"I'll need to discuss this with the person it involves," Keith turned sharply and began to make his way to his lion.

"Wooow," hunk whistled.

"You have no idea," Pidge said turning to the captain, "How close you came to dying just now."

()

The Olkaries were excited to see them and one they landed, Shiro and Lance were swept up in introductions and general catching up. Krolia looked over and Found Lance seated on the ground surrounded by children. They all wanted to know where they had all been all these years and if he had any stories for them. His eyes were still a little red, but his grin was as big as ever.

"I see things are slowly working out," Krolia said to Shiro as he shook more hands, "did he tell you anything?"

"He did," Shiro nodded, "we'll talk later tonight."

The Olkaries ambassador and the Earth ambassador quickly became friends and wondered off together as Olkari workers mingled with the engineers and mechanics on the ship. They discussed technology and the Olkaries were more than happy to show how things were done on their planet which amazed and excited everyone. The whole ship would have to be disembarked for the Olkaries to do their job, and Ryner was more than happy to show that they had set up living quarters for them.

"It is good to see you again," Shiro said grasping her hand.

"It is good to know Voltron is with us again," Ryner insisted, "it seems to have a habit of disappearing. Any idea of how to make that stop?"

"Any idea of how to make bad people stop?" Shiro countered and they both chuckled.

"Commander Shiro," Iverson called from the ships com, "the Black Paladin requests an audience with you."

"More like 'demands'," Shiro said while Ryners smile widened.

Shiro caught Lances eye. Lance raised an eyebrow, asking if he should come as well. Shiro mimed that he'd com him if that was the case. Nodding, Lance went back to the kids he was entertaining.

()

"Ok," Shiro said sitting on the railing on the bridge, "you look like you're about to kill someone. What did you find?"

"There really was a ship," Keith seethed, "there was a ship, and not only did we not find it, but we didn't believe him when he said there was one."

"How about you start at the beginning," Shiro asked.

Keith told him all he knew and how they were keeping Red back away from the ship.

"How did red know who to attack?" Shiro asked.

"I don't know. We're going to question them further and see what we can find out. Hunk and Pidge have cooler heads than I do, Shiro. I'm about to make myself some gray alien skin boots."

"Maybe you should leave this to Hunk and Allura and you and Pidge can make your way back here?"

"Maybe," Keith sighed, "We still don't know about these guys. I don't trust them, but they don't seem put together enough to think of lies right off the bat."

"Just watch your backs."

"Of course….how's Lance?"

"He's doing better," Shiro said, grateful that he could give good news, "Says he has something to tell all of you when you get back. Wouldn't tell me what it was, so don't bother asking."

"…but you know anyway?"

"I can guess," Shiro grinned, "but I won't spoil it."

"I'll update you if we'll be back before you leave."

Keith hung up and Shiro took a moment before heading back outside. As much as he was happy to be back on Olkarion, he needed to get back his crowd-pleasing mojo.

Making his way back outside, Shiro was nearly thrown down a corridor. Screams could be heard outside as shots were fired.

()

"You done babysitting McClain?" Ryan asked coming up from behind him. Turning slightly he noticed that Jordan, only one of Ryans older brothers, was with him.

"Why," Lance asked turning back to the hair he was braiding for a little girl, "is Brad looking for a crash test dummy? Has he looked a little closer to home?"

"Very funny~" Jordan laughed, "no, dad wanted to talk to you."

"Tell Kent to kiss my grits," Lance smiled, "I'm busy."

"We can give you a lot of trouble for dis obeying orders."

"Do it," Lance shrugged and to the little girl asked if he was tugging too hard on her hair.

That's when the first shot was fired from space. It slammed against the Atlas and caused everyone to run for cover.

Lance grabbed his bayard and ran for the Hanger. The Olkaries had removed the ice in order to asses the damage. Running through the lions hanger he ran for Hanger 1 and the jets he could find there.

"Wait up!" Jordan yelled, "You'll need a secondary pilot!"

Lance growled as more shots were fired on the Atlas. Personel were hurrying to their jets.

"Fine," Lance snapped, and then noticed Ryan get into a plane across from them. Since when did he fly?!

Shaking his head to clear it, he strapped in.

"Shiro?" Lance called using his helmet com.

"Lance! Where are you?!"

"I'm going up with Jordan in a jet," Lance informed him as he flipped the switches, "What did Keith have to say?"

"Not important right now. I'll see if I can't get a hold of them again."

"Roger," Lance pulled the throttles and his jet flew off, "quiznak this thing is slow…"

"EASE OFF MCCLAIN!"

Lance rolled his eyes and eased the speed as they hovered on the event horizon. There next to the large planet next to Olkarion, was the ship from Lance's nightmares.

"Shiro!"

"What?"

"Its that ship I told you about!"

"The same one?!"

"I don't know," Lance pulled the jet down and spotted the fighter jets firing on the city, It looks the same for this far away, but it could be different. But we're dealing with the same threat at least."

"Roger that."

Lance fired on the enemy jets and dodged around buildings.

"DAMN MCCLAIN!" Jordan shrieked, "THIS ISN'T FAST AND THE FURRIOUS!"

"Of course not!" Lance shouted back, and with a smile added, "I was thinking Top Gun!"

With a howl of pleasure Lance spun upward, firing on two more enemies. It felt better than he'd thought it would, being back up in the air. This was where he shined. This was his terff!

"Bogies coming in at ten!"

Lance looked and saw the sky speckled with enemy fighters.

"Don't they know its rude to put on a show BEFORE dinner?" Lance snapped falling into formation with the other jets, "Hunk would have a field day!"

"Where are the oh so important heros anyway?" Ryan asked.

"that's not important," Lance said, repeating Shiros words, "If we can't defend our ship without them, then what's the point of you being here?!"

"Excuse me?!"

"Valid point," said a voice from another jet, "let's go show them that you don't bring cats to a dog fight!"

Lance laughed in good humor and they engaged.

((((((())))))))))

AN) Sorry, I didn't explain myself very well. There will be an update every day till this story is done or until the month of November is over. This is my Nanowrimo story and I have to get to 50000 words by the 30th. I was going to start by just doing one every day, but then I just kept writing, so I had update this and will be giving you guys a chapter for every day of November!


	10. Chapter 10

"It's the flu…"

"You're kidding."

Hunk shook his head, "Lance gave them all the flu."

"Well, the flu did wipe out hundreds of thousands of people back in the day," Pidge said looking at Hunks data to double check, "but you'd think an advanced civilization wouldn't be bothered by it."

"Wouldn't you have to be close enough for him to breathe on you for the illness to be transferred?" Keith asked. His arms folded tightly to keep himself in check.

"Not really," Pidge said, "They would just have to touch something he'd breathed on and then eaten something, or even been in the same room as him for too long."

"Then they got what they deserved," Keith shrugged.

"They got more than they bargained for, that's for sure," Hunk said, "But why has this guy survived and not the rest of the crew?"

The captain removed his gloves and showed them his hands. Slits opened up in each palm. Pidge squealed and climbed on top of hunk who in turn hid behind Keith. Long black tendrils lifted themselves out into the air.

"These are what we use to discover," he said slowly, "by a simple touch of our filliments we are able to discover how things are made or what they are composed of without taking them apart."

"You put those slimy things inside LANCE?!"

"I did not," the captain corrected, "it is our law that to use our filliments on living creatures is to be answered with death. However, it seems this…fellow, of mine, used it to discover a way to combat the illness raking his own body after most of the crew had died in order to find an immunity."

"Did it work?"

"It only half worked. Your human bodies are different than ours. What will heal you, or what will make you immune, may not work with ours."

"True,"

"So he's still sick," Hunk said.

"And he will remain that sick for the rest of his days," the captain said pulling his gloves back on, "if you wish to take his life, we will gladly yield him over to you. If not, he shall spend the remainder of his days in this room, un able to eat anything without it coming back out of his body."

"Both sound so tempting…" Pidge muttered.

"We'll let Lance decide when we get back," Keith said and the other two nodded, "Allura, how is the Lion up there?"

"She's stopped struggling," Allura said with a sigh, "I think her fit is over…for now…"

"Don't let your guard down," Keith said, "who knows when it will act up again. Grab Red and come aboard."

"got it," she said, and Keith turned back to the alien captain, "anything else we need to know?"

"That is all for the moment," he replied, "unless you have more questions."

"No," Keith said shaking his head, "no questions. Only orders: We are now in charge of your ship now and we are going to meet up with our people. They may have questions and you will answer truthfully."

"Indeed," the captain bowed again, "we are your prisoners. Do as you wish."

()

"Atlas!"

"Keith!"

Shiro gripped the railing as another blast shook the ship.

"What's going on?"

"We're being attacked," Shiro said as reports started to come in. he made sure Iverson had a handle on it before going back to Keith, "Lance said he saw the same ship as before."

Keith rounded on the alien captain.

"You're attacking?!"

"I am not," the captain said again, "I did mention a 'number of ships' that were taken from our fleet."

"Why are they attacking?!" hunk cried.

"Didn't you say they just wanted to go and explore?" Pidge snapped, "who explores AFTER they've shot?!"

"I only know what is in my area of influence to know," the captain argued back, "They are no longer one of us. We only hoped we would find them before they attracted attention to our people!"

"Well," Shiro said through clenched teeth, "then how about coming and taking care of this mess?!"

"We're on our way shiro!" Keith called and the com ended.

Shiro took a deep breath and began to analyze the battle.

()

It was mayhem.

Lance had grown accustomed to Reds speed and had to adjust his fighting techniques to non-lion shaped maneuvers.

"Like riding…a bike," he said to himself as he banked left and destroyed three enemies at once, "I knew those simulators didn't do me justice."

"Ease up on the speed, McClain," Jordan said again, "We're pushing our limits here!"

"Got it, sorry," Lance said and frowned. He had thought he'd already been going slower.

"Flight KJ-51."

"Go ahead, command."

"Take KJ-41 and check out the mothership. Do not engage. Scout."

"Roger that," Jordan signed off, "you got that?"

"Loud and clear," Lance said pulling up from the fight and seeing one other jet do the same.

"Ryan, you alone in there?" Lance called as they broke the atmosphere.

"Yes."

"Quiznak," Lance swore, "you should have someone with you!"

"there wasn't any time!"

"Fine, stay close," Lance ordered, "we're going to go around to the left-"

"why not the right?"

"beeeecause you don't have a CO-PILOT TO TAKE PICTURES!" Lance yelled, "If we're going to do this right, just follow my lead. I've done this before…well, actually, I've helped Pidge do this before. But I was there and remember what to do, so just do it!"

"the co-pilot doesn't-"

"Jordan, explain to your brother what sarcasm is before I shoot him."

()

"What are they doing?" Shiro watched the fight as Iverson directed the Atlases cannons. The fighter jets were engaging in a heated fight, but it wasn't normal.

They weren't fighting to win.

"Iverson!" Shiro called from across the bridge, "Aim for the enemies that are flying higher than the others!"

He nodded and gave out his orders.

"KJ pilots," Shiro announced, "keep basic. Do not show your hands."

"KJ squad leader, heard you loud and clear," came a voice over the com, "request alternate?"

"No survivors," Shiro ordered.

"Over and out."

"B1NB," Shiro called over the ships com, "get ready."

"Aye, Sir!"

Shiro waited for Lance to touch back. They needed the information that they could get to them.

()

"Quiznak, Ryan, do you mind?"

"What?!"

"stay to my left! Your dad will kill me if his spoiled little tadpole gets socked in the middle of space. Jordan, do you see anything out of the ordinary?"

"It looks like the ships that attacked Earth, but about three times bigger."

Lance bit back another sarcastic remark.

"Alright Sherlock," Lance said, losing the internal battle, "how about something else, ya know, to prove you've been paying attention to the classes Keith and Shiro have been giving?"

"Don't you know?"

Lance rolled his eyes.

"The hanger doors are the same size," Lance said, "the ship is larger, but not everything has adjusted to the new size. Everything seems to be repainted to match what the rebuilding, accept the ion canon. That canon has been untouched and more than likely works just fine, or even better. I've spotted three hanger doors that haven't opened yet, so the fight is going to be a long one- are you writing this down?"

"Everything said in here gets recorded."

"Man, and Iverson said I was lazy," Lance sighed dramatically.

"You got a problem McClain?"

"With you? When have I not had a problem with you? You're parents had seven kids. Six out of the seven are insane and the only child that your parents disowned is the only one I don't have a grudge against!"

"You're sick, McClain."

"Hey, Pot, I'm kettle, and you're black," Lance sang as he banked right, "let's head back to the Atlas and inform Shiro of what we've gathered."

"Wait, we're not going to board?"

"Why would we board?!" Lance yelled, his adrenaline due to fear kicking in, "We have no back up and we're out of radio range. If something were to happen we'd be S.O.L.-AND WHY IS RYAN FLYING THAT CLOSE TO THE SHIP?!"

Ryan, while trying to bank after Lance, was coming within knots of the alien ship.

"SPEED UP RYAN!" Lance shouted, "GET AWAY FROM THE SHIP!"

A beam of light shot from the large ship and caught Ryans Jet.

"they moved the tractor beam to the side," Lance swore and turned the jet around. Instinctually he dodged to the left as another beam shot in his direction.

"They have more than one," Jordans voice shook as Ryans calls for help came through.

"On our way, Ryan," Lance called, "Brace for impact!"

"IMPA-?"

Lance slammed into Ryans jet and the momentum took both of them out of the beams force.

"BOOK IT!"

As they both hit the throttle, three beams froze both of them in place.

"Ef…my…life…"

()

"Commander Shirogane," Iverson called, "We're pushing them back."

"No," Shiro swore, "they're leaving. B1NB! Get out there and keep them in your sights! KJ, come in and hold for orders."

"Aye Sir!"

()

"What do you MEAN we don't have WARP DRIVE?!"

"What high tech ship can't at least go fast!"

"This is a repurposed Galra ship. Right?! They have warp drive!"

"It got in the way of our cloaking," the captain replied, "and since we don't travel outside our system there was no reason to have it."

Pidge sunk down onto the floor, her hands clutching her hair, "…they took out the warp drive…they just…took it out? Like…what?"

Hunk stood there, completely unresponsive in his shock.

Allura wrung her hands while looking at Keith, who stood with his arms against, folded as tightly as possible.

"Hunk," Keith growled, "you and Pidge stay here and see if you can't get this thing moving faster. Allura, grab Red and make your way back to the Atlas. I'll go as fast as possible to give them aid."

"Shouldn't we try to stick together?"

"We were already separated," Keith said, just watch your back, "and make sure we keep in touch with each other no matter what, got it?"

"Yup."

()

"So how do we get out?"

Lance glared at the two brothers who were looking at him expectantly. They had been dragged in and thrown unceremoniously into a cell with two Olkaries who were picked up by the fighter jets as they retreated.

Ignoring them, Lance turned to the Olkaries.

"Are you two alright?"

"We are," said the older one, "This child is terrified."

Lance reached down and picked the child up, bouncing him slightly on his hip.

"Everything will be fine," Lance said giving his best smile, "they made the mistake of celling us together."

"So you do have a plan?" Ryan asked, sarcasm thick in his voice.

"What's your name?" Lance asked, again ignoring the brothers.

"Rai," he said and rubbed his face, "I would like to go home…"

"Good, cause that's where we're heading," Lance said and put him back down, "I'm going to talk to these guys over here and then I'll talk to your uncle here-"

"auntie," the older Olkari corrected.

"…auntie, and we'll formulate a plan together, ok?"

Rai nodded and sat next to his aunt. Lance turned and gave as serious a look as he could to the others as he walked over to them.

"Ok you two," Lance hissed, "I'm putting you in charge of those two, got it? If that means you put yourself in the line of fire to save them and to help them escape, then so be it. Do you understand me?"

"And you?"

"I'll cover you two."

Jordan laughed, "Well, that's comforting."

"If you guard them, then that's my reason to guard you," Lance said a humorless smile curving one side of his face, "Their safety will come first."

Jordan and Lance had a staring match, then he nodded.

"Fine, truce."

"Truce," Lance sighed, "Now let's come up with a plan."

()

"They don't know anything about the Olkaries, so we'll be able to use that against them," Lance said as they all sat in a tight circle, Rai sitting on Lances lap.

"How are we going to get our hands on some weapons?" Ryan asked.

"Auntie," Lance said, "we're going to need you to mess with the tech on this ship. Thank you can?"

"I've already attempted to interphase with the waves," she said, "but its like a different language I'm not familiar with. It may take some time."

"Ok, focus on that for now. Jordan and I will watch the door and make sure anyone who comes in doesn't go back out."

"Aren't we trying to get out?"

Lance sighed, "Yes, Ryan, we are. But we don't want the enemy to come in and potentially separate us. If we're separated, then not only will it mean we'll most likely get hurt, but it will take longer for us to escape."

"What do I do?" Rai asked, wide eyed and eager since Lance was so confident.

"You watch over your Auntie," Lance said, "she's going to try and hack the ship, but she needs you to watch her back. And Ryan here will watch both of your backs in case someone gets past Jordan and me, alright?"

Rai nodded.

()

Standing at the door Jordan spoke in a low voice.

"This is a crappy plan."

"It's the only one we have," Lance answered.

"what about taking off the paneling? There could be a secret passage-"

Lance actually laughed, "Yeah, already thought of that. There isn't any. Trust me."

"Paladin," the olkari called, "I believe I have an in, but its limited."

"Is it enough to at least open and close doors?"

"Mmmm…give me a few more tiks."

"Take your time," Lance said, "No hurry."

Joran scowled, "What do you mean no-"

"You don't rush a technician, Jordan," Lance hissed, "human or not, that one of the universal laws of the universe!"

"You're speaking double!"

"then get it the first time!"

"What's that even-"

"Shut up!" Ryan yelled, "Both of you! I thought we were at a truce!"

They glared at Ryan and told him to shut up himself before going back and glaring at each other. They didn't talk to each other anymore, but they weren't ever going to be friendly any time soon, if ever.

The door opened.

Jordan jumped back in surprise and Lance braced himself, ready to attack.

No one was outside.

"I told you it would only take a tik," she said a little smugly. Lance laughed and bowed to her.

"forgive me, madam, for doubting you."

"Just get us home," she said.

()

Ryan carried Rai on his back and Jordan covered the Auntie. Lance scouted a head, a little bit as a time, waving them forward when the cost was clear. When Passing through a corridor with a lot of doors, Lance had the Auntie lock all the doors to keep anyone from running into them on accident. After they passed by and were out of sight, she unlocked the doors and no one was any the wiser.

"Ok," Lance breathed as they squeezed in a small blind spot, "A few feet ahead is the Hanger they brought us though. Our jets should still be there."

"What about the escape pods?" The auntie asked, "would they not be easier?"

"Someone forgot to take notes," Lance snapped, glaring at Jordan, who in turn rolled his eyes, "we need the audio on our jets so that Shiro knows what we're facing."

"There are a ton of aliens in there, how are we going to get to our jet when we don't even know weather to turn right or left once we're thought the door?" Ryan hissed back.

Lance looked around and saw a ledge. Galras were always so fond of ledges.

"Rai," Lance grinned, "think you can climb up there and look into the hanger? Then tell us where our jets are?"

He beamed and nodded. Reaching out from Ryans back his finger tips glowed slightly as they created light dents in the metal. In a flash he began to scale the wall, only using slight momentum to keep him going.

"How the hell-"

Lance grinned, "something you learn while babysitting. Kids can do amazing things."

When Rai came back Lance took out his bayard.

"You had a-"

"Shhhhhhh!" Lance shoved his hand against Ryans mouth, "Yes, I've had my bayard this hole time. If I had taken it out while they expected resistance, they would've taken it away. Now we have it when we need it the most. Rai, what did you see?"

"There's only about ten people in there," he said, "your jets are at the end, but the blast doors are down."

"right," Lance sighed and thought for a moment.

"I can open the blast doors," the auntie said, "that is not an issue."

"We could always make a run for it," Jordan said, "You can cover us from behind?"

Lance hesitated, then nodded, "Ryan, you're a faster runner than Jordan, so you go to the Jet that's further. If at any point you guys think you can't make it, hijack one of the fighters in the hanger. You getting out is first priority.

"If that was the case, then we should've just used the escape pods," Ryan snapped.

Lance ignored him.

"Right," Lance sighed, "we've got a plan. This is good…this is…good…."


	11. Chapter 11

FILLER EPISODE! (please don't kill me….)

((((((((((()))))))))))

Hunk and Lance giggled as they mixed a gooie substance together. Lance practically dancing on his tip toes as he leaned over the counter.

This.

It was this that would make everything worth it.

"Is it done?" Pidge cried bursting into hunks lab through their connecting side door.

"This glow goo is my best work yet!" Hunk cried, letting out a maniacal laugh which Lance and Pidge applauded.

"So we're ready for tonight, right?" Pidge giggled, "operation ghost ship is a go?"

"Yup," Lance stuck his finger in the goo and picked up Pidges helmet, "this stuff is also organic, so you can even do this."

He smeared the goo over his teeth and then shut off the desk light. The effect was enough to make the Cheshire cat jealous.

"I told you not to do that," Hunk said, flipping the light back on as pidge stuck her finger in the goo as well, "Wait, stop that!"

Pidge giggled and Lance laughed as they turned the light back off; their teeth glowing creepily in the dark. Hunks glowing hand reached out and flipped the light back on.

"Yes, its organic, but I used that plant we found on Olkarion. We have no idea what it will do if injested."

"Then shouldn't you be wearing gloves?" Lance asked pointedly.

"Well, they said it didn't have a reaction if you touch it, but-"

Hunk stared at his friends and they stared back.

"Hunk," Pidge said, looking worried, "I think you're shrinking."

"No, you guys are shrinking!" Hunk cried.

Lance looked down at himself. His pants had fallen around his ankles and his shirt was below his knees. Pidges shirt was coving her feet as her glasses slipped off her face and Hunk was grabbing at his belt.

"Awww, maaaaaan," Lances tiny voice echoed around the room.

()

"Soooo," Keith said, bighting his lower lip and Shiro and Allura both had to cover their mouths, "you all were doing an experiment and…this…was the result?"

"I told them not to eat it!" Hunk snapped, he had only shrunk to the size he'd been when he was a pre-teen, "They're toddlers! I only de-aged a little cause its on my skin only…but I told them-"

"That doesn't make you better," Pidge argued, her 'r's sounding more like 'w's, "You used an alien plant!"

"You said it was organic!" Lance protested.

"GLYPHOSPHATE IS ORGANIC!" Hunk shouted, his face turning red, "BUT YOU WOULDN'T CHUG A BOTTLE OF ROUND UP!"

"…I didn't 'chug'," Lance muttered, "anyway, we're not toddlers. I'd say about 7 or 8?"

"At any rate," Shiro said clearing his throat, "Until this wares off or until we can fix this, I don't want any of you going around the heavy machinery."

"You sure?" Lance asked flexing his tiny hands, "engine work would be a breeze with these lovely digits."

"But you have no strength behind it," Allura argued, "it would be safer if you three just took the time off."

()

Three days later, the effects still hadn't worn off.

"We're gonna be like this forever," Hunk started to cry, "I hated my teen years!"

"Its ok," Lance said patting his back, "At least you don't have to go through ALL of puberty all over again like Pidge and I."

"Hmmm?" Pidge looked up at the sound of her name and smiled at them, "is Matt back?"

Lance and Hunk frowned. What was she talking about?

"Nooo," Hunk said slowly, "Matts on Earth hooking our planet up with the resistance."

"Did dad say that?" She asked, tilting her head to one side.

"…noooo," Hunk reached out and grabbed her, giving her a little shake, "PIDGE! SPEAK TO ME!"

She started to cry.

"Let go!" Lance shouted hitting Hunk on the arm, "don't bully Pidgeon!"

Hunk looked down at Lance.

"Lance, do you know who I am?"

Lance scowled, "You're a bully!"

"SHIIIIIRRRROOOO!"

()

"Its ok, its ok," Allura said, her arm around Hunks shoulders as he sobbed.

"they remember each other," Ketih said frowning, "and it seems like the know Hunk, but they don't remember any of us…"

"He called me a bullyyyyy," wailed Hunk, "its so meeeaaaannnn!"

"You know, I can't tell if Hunks mind is also affected," Allura said quietly, "its really hard to tell."

"Either way, this is bad," Shiro sighed, "we can't leave them alone any more."

"But we can't look after them," Keith stressed, "our schedules are booked enough as it is!"

Shiro shook his head, "This is an emergency. We'll see if we can't find someone to watch them while we take care of the things we can't miss no matter what, and we'll have to take care of them in between that."

Lance stood from where he and Pidge were hiding behind a counter and walked up to hunk. He patted Hunks knee, his own eyes slightly watery.

"I'm sorry," Lance said, "Pidgeon said I was mean too. I'm sorry."

Alluras face turned a deep red and she snatch Lance onto her lap. She squeezed as Lance cried out in fear.

"SOOOO CUTE~!"

"I'll save you!" Pidge yelled Jumping out and grabbing Lances foot, "Let go big lady!"

"How about I give you my schedule and I'll watch them all," Allura said, her eyes glittering even though the two she was holding onto were desperately trying to get away.

"I think that might be too much for you," Shiro said, "taking care of kids isn't the same as taking care of robot lions…"

In the end: Shiro had Lance, Keith had Pidge, and Allura had Hunk. Unlike the younger ones, Hunk could follow Allura to her appointments and knew how to behave himself. Pidge and Lance, however, lived to make trouble.

"Commander!" First Leutnent Bete ran onto the bridge as Shiro was deep in discussion with Iverson, "Commander! He's gone! I looked EVERYWHERE!"

"Have you checked the vents?" Shiro asked with a sigh.

"I…i…" Bete was close to tears, "I can't do this anymore, Commander…I signed up thinking at worse, I'll get sucked out into space through faulty paneling…but this *snif*…I caaaaaaan't!"

Shiro winced.

"Alright, alright," Shiro tried to calm the poor man, "Forgive me Commander Iverson."

Iverson chuckled a little and nodded, "Take your time. I've got things covered here for today."

Shiro left Bete to Iverson and went in search of Lance.

He really did check everywhere. He even got on the com and threatened Lance, so the whole ship could hear, that if he didn't come out soon, then he'd be going to bed right now!

Swearing, Shiro marched along the corridors leading to the kitchens thinking Lance would end up there eventually, when he saw Lance slide around the end of the hall and run pell-mell into his legs. Lance grabbed onto his knees and buried his face into his legs.

"Where the heck where you?!" he scolded, but stopped as he noticed the boy was shaking.

"Ah, so he's yours?"

Shiro looked up to see one of the elected diplomatic officers come toward them. His hair was a thick silver and he carried himself with so much confidence that Shiro found himself straightening up as well.

"Did he cause you any trouble?"

"Oh no," the officer chuckled, "He just surprised me; I didn't know there were children on board."

"It was a lab accident," Shiro explained, "You never can tell what's going to happen in space."

"Apparently."

"Would you like to join us for dinner?" Shiro asked, "its past time, but I'm sure they've got something let over in the kitchens."

"I was wondering just that," he said, "I would love to join you."

"Lance, let go of my legs and lets get dinner," Shiro said, but Lance shook his head, not letting go.

"I think I was the one who scared him the most," the officer said apologetically, "the lights have gone out around the corner over there aways and we ran into each other. Gave out quite the long scream."

Shiro laughed a little thinking about it.

"Come on, Lance, this guy isn't scarry."

The officer crouched down to Lances level and held out a hand, "I'm really sorry to have scarred you so badly. My name is Kent Pillon, how do you do?"

Lance turned his head slightly to look at Kents face. He finally let go, but only to run around Shiros legs and hide there.

"Come on," Shiro sighed, stepping away and picking him up, "let's get some food. I'm starving after searching the whole ship for you."

Lance grabbed Shiros shirt and didn't let go all the way to the commissary. They walked up to the counter the cooks were just starting to put things away and found it no trouble to put together three plates while they were at it.

"You sit here," Shiro said, but Lance had wrapped his legs around Shiros middle and refused to budge, "seriously, Lance, you can not eat while sitting on my lap."

Lance held tighter for a moment, then slowly released Shiro and sat in his chair. Kent took the seat opposite of them. Lance scooted closer to Shiro and even though this limited his arm space, Shiro just sighed and went with it.

Kent and Shiro talked about their assigned diplomacy missions and how they hoped everything would work out. Of course nothing was set in stone because they needed every races input, but it was good to go into that meeting with something already to give.

"The simplicity of it is ingenious," Kent said grinning, "That princess is really something. I have sons I'd just love to introduce her to."

"ah, ha…ha…" Shiro cleared his throat, "Allura is, um, coming off a rather bad break up…I wouldn't mention anything like that to her if I were you…"

"Strong headed?"

"Oh yeah."

Kent laughed, "Both my daughters are the same way. I can't tell them to do anything. And heaven forbid I actually tell them I like the guy they're dating, then they feel like they have to get rid of them."

Lance made a small noise and scooted even closer to Shiro.

"You tired?" Shiro asked looking down at him and couldn't think of it being any other reason. Lance hesitated, then nodded emphatically.

"Finnish your salad and we'll go," Shiro said pushing Lance plate closer to him.

"Salads are good for you," Kent said, turning his perfect smile towards the boy, "help you to grow be and strong."

"When I get strong," Lance said quietly, "I'm going to kill monsters."

Shiro laughed and Kent chuckled.

"Where are the monsters?" the officer asked, still grinning.

"…they're everywhere," Lance said. He was shaking, but looking Kent in the eyes, "and I'm gonna get them all…starting with the big one…"

"Wow," Shiro laughed, "that's something. Too bad Zarkon is already defeated."

"yes," Kent laughed, "the big one is already gone."

Lance shoved the salad in his mouth and chewed quickly. Shiro and Kent continued their conversation.

When Lance was finished he stood and hid behind Shiro.

"I think that's my cue to get ready for bed," Shiro said, "It was a pleasure to meet and talk with you. I really enjoyed your ideas on planet setting."

"Of course!" Kent smiled, "and it was an honor to share a meal with the heros of the universe! And if you need anything from me at all, please don't hesitate to ask. I've raised seven kids and five of them were boys. Taking care of this little one shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Thank you so much," Shiro said, relief flooding him, "I will definitely take you up on that offer."

Shiro took Lances hand and they left the commissary. Shiro's head buzzed with the things he had done that day and the things he had yet to do tomorrow, so it wasn't until halfway through getting Lance into his pjs that Shiro noticed the kid was crying.

"Woah," Shiro looked around for the tissue box in his room, "what's the matter?"

"Don't…don't leave me!" Lance wailed grabbing Shiros shirt again.

"I'm not?" Shiro was perplexed, "I'm turning in for the night as well, see? I have my pjs on too!"

Lance shook his head, "Don't leave me!"

"Lance," Shiro forced him to let go, "I'm not going to leave, I promise."

Now lance was beside himself, sobbing hysterically. Shiro had no idea what had gotten into him. Lance was a trusting person, hence why Lance could be found walking and wandering all over the ship without a care in the world. Shiro sometimes envied the boy this ability to just walk up to anyone and start a conversation, and he knew Keith really envied it.

"Come on," Shiro sighed, picking him up, "lets get you some sleep. I bet you're just really tired. Running around all day today must've taken its toll, huh?"

Lance shook his head again and babbled something, but Shiro couldn't make out what it was. The Commander pulled the covers up and tucked them both in. Normally Shiro would put Lance to bed in his own room, but Lance didn't look like he was going to let go of him any time soon.

()

"Shiro," Keith said the next morning, "you seem to have a growth."

"He wouldn't let go all morning," Shiro sighed. Lance grinned at Keith from Shiros back, "Do you know how had it is to get dressed when someone wont let go of your leg or your arm?"

"No…" Keith said scowling at Lance, "Common, Lance, we have to work. Let go now."

"I promise to be good!" Lance said holding tighter to Shiro, "I promise!"

"You're too young-"

"Hunk gets to follow you all around!" Lance whined, "I promise to be good!"

"Don't even think about it Shiro," Keith snapped as he saw the Commanders will start to bend, "Pidge is just as hard to manage, if not a little more since she already has the periodic table memorized and likes to tell me what I'm doing is wrong!"

"That's cause Keith is stupid~" Lance giggled.

"Op, looks like you're not being good," Keith said, and Lances smile vanished to be replaced with one of horror.

"NOOOO!" He screamed and latched even harder onto Shiro, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Lance, let go of my neck…"

"I'm sorry!"

Shiro finally pried Lance off his back and Lance was close to tears. Did he not get enough sleep last night?

"You can't stay with me," Shiro said and Lance really did start to cry. The bridge door opened and Kent walked in.

Lance screamed and grabbed onto Shiros sleeve.

"Looks like I'm still the bad guy," Kent sighed, but smiled. Shiro gave an apologetic smile of his own.

"I'm sorry," Shiro sighed, "he's not normally like this."

"It could be an imbalanced caused by that lab accident you talked about," Kent said, "if it changed their age and erased their memories, then it could've also changed their personalities."

"That makes sense," Keith said looking down at the terrified kid. Still, Keiths own nature didn't like seeing his teammate at a disadvantage.

"You must've done something to make him act like this, though," Keith said, putting forth a challenge.

Kent chuckled and told Keith what he'd told Shiro, "Coming around that corner with all those shadows must've over acted the poor kids imagination. First impressions are strong, so he must think I simply changed my skin or something."

It was a compelling argument.

So Shiro detached himself from Lance and Kent picked him up. Lance froze in abject terror as he stared at Shiro and Keith. They waved at him until the door slid shut. Only then did Shiro relax.

"I hope this ends soon," shiro sighed, "if their personalities really are getting warped the longer they're kids, then we have to do something."

"The people that usually does the 'something' are the ones we need to save," Keith grumbled, "we don't have the know how."

()

"Here we go," Kent grinned as they settled in an office of sorts, "Do you like to draw?"

Lance stood stiffly and shook his head.

"I have a lap top that I brought that is strictly for games," Kent gave Lance a conspiratorial wink, "I play when I can't study alien culture anymore. How about you play while I work for a while?"

Lance shook his head again.

"would you like to sit down?"

Lance shook his head.

"I have a box of cookies in here would you-"

Lance shook his head harder.

"You have to stay put while I work," Kent said firmly, "I will not allow you to wander around, got it?"

Lance nodded.

So Kent got to work. He was to study a number of cultures before the meeting on Aris. It was a lot of memorization work that was difficult for his older mind, but one he was determined to accomplish without fail. After an hour he turned and found Lance standing right where he'd left him; the childs eyes not looking away form him.

"Creepy kid," Kent muttered and went back to work.

()

"Lunch time," Kent said standing. Lance hadn't moved a single step. And when Kent offered his hand to hold, Lance shook his head and simply followed behind.

The commissary was packed and Kent grabbed Lances hand so he wouldn't get lost. Lance squirmed, but Kents grip was tight.

They got their food and half way through their meal Keith and Pidge showed up.

"Shiro can't make it since he's making up for what he didn't get done yesterday," Pidge said quickly, "Lance, you need to be good."

"I am good…" Lance muttered, scooting away from Kent. Pidge frowned.

"Are you ok Lance?"

Lance hesitated, then gave a small nod.

"It seems that lab accident effected more than just one," Kent smiled.

"you have a creepy smile," Pidge said bluntly, "and you smell weird."

"Stop that Pidge," Keith hissed. He'd been thinking the same thing, but even he knew better than to say it out loud.

"I get that sometimes," Kent said, "In fact, I have an idea. Lance here, doesn't seem to be comfortable with me. How about you come play with him in my office while I work? Or we can move to a conference room and you can run around there?"

"NO!" Lance shouted and then looked down at his lap.

"You don't wanna play with me?" Pidge asked, totally hurt.

"…I do wanna play," Lance said, but then scowled at Kent.

"I have no idea what I've done," Kent sighed and shrugged.

"You can take Pidge after lunch then," Keith said, "but just know that together they really do get into a lot of trouble."

"Duly noted," Kent nodded.

"…like being fed to a wolf," Lance muttered, but no one heard him.

()

They sat in a conference room. Pidge had Kents game computer and was playing while Lance watched. He let his eyes wander around and he spied an air vent. He poked Pidge lightly and pointed to the vent.

She grinned.

()

Kent looked up, and they were gone.

Sighing slightly he got up and walked over to the vent. The two kids were just inside, blocked by a barricade Kent had put there just that morning.

"Come on," he said, "nice try, but I told you that wandering off is not going to happen."

"Che," Pidge stuck up her nose. She had now been challenged.

()

She played on the lap top some more and Lance watched. Kent looked up more often and was pleased to see that Lance was relaxing. It was amazing what adding one other person to an equation could do.

"Well, I'm ready to go for a walk," Kent said standing a stretching, "how about we head towards the observation deck and have a snack while we're at it?"

The kids didn't do or say anything.

Frowning, he walked up and noticed too late that they were holograms.

()

Lance and Pidge laughed as they ran down the corridors.

"this way," Pidge hissed and Lance followed, "I found this place yesterday when we had to split up."

"Woooah," Lance looked around the room they walked into, "What is it?"

"I don't know, but look!"

Pidge turned off all the lights and back in the corner of the room there was a light that glowed and pulsed.

"That's so cool!" Lance cried as they made their way over. They dragged stools to stand on and played with the goo in the dark. Giggling madly as they smeared it all over each other.

()

"Found them and if we're lucky, they'll get so small they'll disappear this time," Keith called and caused both of them to jump. They hopped off the stools and ran for cover, hiding belatedly under the lab tables.

"Lance, Pidge," Kent called, "You're making a scene. Come on out."

Lance held onto Pidge and shook his head. Pidge looked at him curiously, then held onto him as well.

"Seriously," Shiro sighed, "we can see you under that desk. You're foot prints lead right up to it."

They turned the light on and suddenly Lance shouted and Pidge swore.

"Ow! Lance! Get your elbow out of my side!"

"Your foot is in my hip, Pidge! Hip!"

They writhed until they tumbled out from under the desk, fully grown.

"What happened?" Pidge groaned rolling onto her back, "is this what a hangover feels like?"

"I think I might vomit," Lance grumbled. He was curled up on the ground, facing the floor.

"Huh," Shiro shrugged, "Keith, get Allura and Hunk down here. As for you two, what do you remember?"

"Mmm," Pidge covered her eyes from the light, "we were looking at this glow gloo that Hunk made…"

"We put some on our teeth for fun," Lance groaned, "that's all I got…"

"Me too," Pidge said, "did we die?"

"Oh at this point I hope so," Lance said and then chuckled. Pidge joined in and they laughed in spite of each other.

"Looks like I'm not needed any more then," Kent said. Lances head snapped up and he stared at the officer.

"Hello," Kent said with a chuckle, "we need to spend some time together now that you're big and strong."

Lances jaw clenched, all good humor gone.

"What are you doing in Hunks lab," Lance asked instead.

"It's a long story," Shiro said as Allura and hunk ran into the room.

"I'll leave now," Kent said, "since it seems the accident is still having an effect. I don't want to get him any more upset."

He left and Lance grabbed Shiros sleeve. Shiro simply raised an eyebrow at him.

"What is it Lance?"

"Shiro," Lance was serious, "Don't ever trust that guy, no matter what, got it?"

"Lance," Shiro shook his head, "calm down a second and get your head back on straight."

"It IS on straight," Lance insisted, "I don't care if you never believe me again. Believe me when I tell you to not trust him!"

Shiro paused. Lance was adamant.

"Alright," Shiro said slowly, "Alright, Kent is on the black list."

Lance visibly relaxed as he sat back against the desk.

(((((())))))))


	12. Chapter 12

Keith landed in the middle of the chaos. The olkaries and the humans were teaming together to rebuild buildings and to keep the ship on its schedule.

Touching down outside the ship, Keith ran through the broken hanger and up the stairs to the bridge.

"Shiro! What's going on?"

Sitting on the dais were two crewman and two Olkari. There were also a number of others standing around, but Keith didn't pay them any attention.

"Keith…where are the others?"

Shiro looked pointedly behind him and Keith told him how they'd slip up, "Red calmed down, so where's Lance so we can chuck it at him?"

Shiro looked over at those sitting on the dais. Looking over, Keith found it was Jordan and that kid Red really didn't like.

"...he's dead…" Jordan said thickly.

"Who's dead?" Keith asked.

"McClain is dead," Jordan covered his face and Ryan wouldn't look up from his lap.

It took a moment for it to sink in, but when it did, Keith shook his head.

"Don't believe it," he said, "I don't."

"Keith," Shiro reached out and Keith smacked his hand away.

"I refuse to believe my right hand died, thinking I didn't trust him!" Keith yelled, "and this one has lied to me before! Tell me why I should believe him again!"

Keith pointed a long finger in Ryans direction.

"I'm sorry," Ryan said sniffing, "we didn't get along, but I didn't want him to die!"

"I saw it!" Jordan yelled back, "I grabbed his hand trying to pull him into the cockpit and he was shot from behind! We barely made it out ourselves, and McClain himself said that these two came first!"

He gestured to the Olkaries.

"So you just left his body with a bunch of sacrilegious aliens?!" Keith roared, "How did you get caught in the first place?! If you were scouting, then how did you get caught?!"

"Its MY FAULT!" Ryan shouted standing, tears streaming down his face, "I flew too close to the ship! I was just trying to get a better look!"

"That's Fine, perfect!" Ketih threw his hands up in the air, "send the one member of Voltron that would ACTUALLY stick his neck out for people he hates with…THESE-"

"Keith, please-"

"NO! He's not dead before I can apologize!" Keith rounded on Shiro again, "He will NOT win this round! That idiot! That stupid, jerk of an idiot!"

"KEITH!" Shiro grabbed him and gave him a good shake. It was only then that Keith realized how red Shiros eyes were, "we've not given up yet."

"Are you two done calling my children liars?" a man stepped forward with silver hair and a solid build. He looked like he would have an easy smile, but right now he was glaring.

"Maybe," Keith said and Shiros grip tightened.

"Where it is true that the McClains and the Pillons never really got along very well- about as well as the Hatfilds and the Mcoys- we've always had a lot of respect for one another. In fact, I insist that I talk with Lances' mother and father. I will give them the news and-"

"Over my dead body," Keith snapped, "Lance was my teammate. IF he is dead then informing the family is MY responsibility. Come take the black lion from me if you want to do it so badly."

Along the side of the room Krolia leaned over to Kolivan, "that's my kid."

()

Allura sighed heavily as she dragged the icy Red lion all the way to Olkarion. She listened to the chatter from Hunk and Pidge and wondered what was taking Keith so long to get back to them.

She was lost in thought when Red suddenly ripped itself from Blues grip and speed off.

"ooooh, Quiznack…"

She bolted after it.

()

Keith and Shiro sat in the smaller conference room.

"What am I supposed to tell the others?" Keith said, "how are we going to find that ship?"

"I have a B1NB tailing the ship," Shrio said, "as for telling the others, well, telling them should be easier than telling his parents. Yet you seemed pretty confident about that just a moment ago."

"That guy just puts my teeth on edge," Keith growled, thinking about Kent, "I should've hit him."

"I'm glad you didn't," Shiro said, "now we can keep some form of civility. As we're waiting to hear back from the B1NB, get on the com with the others and let them know what's going on."

"Shiro-"

"No body, no death certificate," Shiro said firmly.

"I don't even know what happened," Keith rubbed his face, "everything was fine, then we got to work, kept busy, Hunk, Pidge and Lance were playing stupid pranks, and then everything fell apart."

Shiro didn't say anything. Keith needed to work this out himself.

()

Hunk and Pidge scowled at the tech in front of them. The big guy was beside himself.

"Did it not occur to any of them that Galra tech wasn't very salvageable?"

"Apparently not," Pidge muttered, "but then, they didn't seem to be taken over by them…Hey, Greg, why is that?"

The alien bristled at the name. He had told them his name, but they hadn't been able to pronounce it; so "Greg" he had become.

"those that attacked our planet left these ships. Of course we fought them off and won."

"You beat the Galra?"

"If that is what they were, then yes," he nodded his bald and slightly flat head, one eye blinking nervously, "they put of a good fight, but we, of course, won."

"And you didn't think to help out any other planets?!"

"We keep to ourselves," Greg said again, "like any choice it has its pros and cons, but in the end, we can at least lay to rest each night knowing we didn't not make trouble."

"And your adventuring peers?"

Greg bristled again, "we destroyed the mostly empty ship we found. It is now space dust. And when we arrive were the other one is, it shall meet the same fate. We have our cells open and waiting to receive all those that will surrender. All those that do not will follow their ship into oblivion."

"Mmmm," Hunk frowned, "I'm not sure if I should say, 'good' or 'harsh'."

"Both," Pidge said, "Its harsh and good. How many other adventuring ships are there?"

"We will have captured them all after this next one," he said with a sigh, "we have been gone from our planet for a very long time."

"Yeeeeaaah," Pidge said, "and y'all would've died trying to get back without a warp drive."

"That did not occur to us until you mentioned it," Greg replied, "we are unaccustomed to long distance travel."

"You guys REALLY need to get out more…"

()

Supervisor Brad Pillon had taken the initiative to pilot the B1NB. Correction- to pilot the ONLY B1NB that could safely follow a ship into hyper space. They were in the middle of upgrades and theB1NB-38 was the only one to be finished before they were needed. The design was sleek, thin, but long and durable.

The ship he was following was going in and out of hyper space erratically and Brad was finding it really annoying. It was like a toddler was playing with the remote and Brad had no patience with children.

When there had been enough time between one jump and the next, he sent out a short EM blast back to the Atlas. Then he quickly turned off the radio and moved to a different position so he wouldn't be spotted.

If he retained radio silence, the enemy ship shouldn't notice his position.

()

"Are you telling me the truth?"

"Of course I'm telling you the truth," Jordan scoffed, "you really think I'd take a truce like that seriously? McClain is dead and we don't have to worry about him anymore."

Kent and Jordan sat in his office. Ryan sat next to his brother and rolled his eyes.

"We're not stupid enough to lie to you, dad," Ryan said, "but now you don't have to get those stupid emails anymore."

Kent sat back and watched his children. Somewhere, there was a glimmer of regret, but then it was gone before he really took all that much notice.

()

Allura screamed in frustration.

What was this lion doing?! First it was flying this way, then it was flying that way, then it actually turned around and flew back the way they had come!

"Allura, where are you?" Keiths voice was staticky and Allura hissed.

"NOT NOW!" She snapped, "Red escaped and I think its broken! She's EVERYWHERE!"

"Oh…I see…" there was something in keiths voice that Allura didn't like.

"Really?" she cried as Red darted in a different direction yet again, "Then let me in, cause I don't 'see' anything!"

"There's a report…say's Lance might have died during the battle. We're putting together out facts and-"

"Keith, 'might have' is not a phrase I am willing to accept at this time," Alluras mouth had gone dry, "is he or is he not dead?"

"…."

"Until you know for sure, then DON'T MAKE ME WORRIED! Have you talked to Pidge and Hunk yet?!"

"…they said the same thing…."

"And you thought I would be different?!"

"I thought I'd share the information that I've gathered so that we don't end up with another teammate with stupid ideas!" Keith yelled back and he cut the communications.

Allura groaned and focused back onto the Red lion. She needed to know where this thing was going. Yeah…she couldn't think about anything else. She shoved all her fears and worries deep down so she could do what she needed to.


	13. Chapter 13

"Hunk…"

"Mmm?"

"the longer we stand here the longer we're going to have to wait for answers," Keith said patting the big guys back. They had arrived next to the Atlas and hunk had needed…well, a bit of comforting. Being told his log time best buddie who has been tortured and damaged is now suddenly "maybe" dead, had put him in a rather vulnerable frame of mind.

"I know," Hunk muttered, "but-"

"Think of it this way," Pidge said, "Not only is it my turn for a hug, but you realize that these moments are the reason everyone thinks we're engaging in threesomes."

"Sorry," hunk let go of Keith and picked Pidge up in a bear hug.

"Thanks," Pidge grinned, "now, what do we do now?"

"Hunk," Keith said, suddenly business, "you need to go after Allura. Something is off about Red. Pidge and I will follow the brief signals the B1NB has been pinging us from time to time."

"And I," Shiro said, "will take care of Greg…"

The alien stood erect, and yet did not speak unless addressed.

"I can help with that," Kent said.

"Are you not busy?" Iverson asked a little blandly, "Surly you have better things to do?"

"In my studies for my up coming post, I have discovered a need to know about specific alien cultures," Kent said, as smooth as warm butter, "I believe I may be able to make life a little easier for those that are already over taxed. I know of other officers who would be more than willing to help as well. I know we are merely passengers, but this is a time of crisis if ever there was one."

"Is anyone else smelling that?" Pidge asked out the side of her mouth.

"The weblum chips? Yeah, and its ripe," Hunk muttered.

"Hunk, you should go now," Keith said, "leave these matters to Shiro."

Hunk nodded and ran to his lion.

"We'll be on our way," Keith said and Shiro interrupted himself to give Pidge and Keith a hug.

"Be safe out there."

"The only one who isn't is the one were gonna go get," Pidge said rolling up her sleeves, "and this time, Shiro, I know you're a softy, but grounding the little twerp won't kill him. You send him to his room until he's learned his lesson this time!"

"Roger that," Shiro nodded and smiled. He watched them run to their lions and hoped he'd be able to punish Lance for being careless.

Iverson cleared his throat and Shiro was brought back to the present where Kent was already making friends with Greg.

Shiro could feel that migraine come back with full force.

()

"KEITH!"

Alluras voice cut through Keith's and Pidges funk. They had been hopeful when they left, but the longer they flew the more potential reality weighed on them. They didn't want to talk to each other thinking that anything they said would sound like fake hope or just plain depressing.

"What is it Allura?"

"The Red lion just attacked another remade galra ship! Is this the one that was attacking the Atlas?"

She shifted the view to what she was seeing and Keith watched as Red started to make short work out of its barrier. In the back, he could just make out a B1NB.

"That's the ship," Keith said, "and Red's attacking it?"

"Even more fiercely than the last one," Allura said, almost in awe, "do I just let her?"

"Yup," Keith beamed, "that jerk is alive! If Reds going after it like that, then he's alive!"

"But that also means he's in really big danger…right?" Pidge said. Her tone indicated that she didn't want to be the kill joy, but didn't want to get her hopes up either.

"Yeah, but Lance has always been a fast healer," Keith said, refusing to let Pidges point of view ruin his. If Lance was alive, he could heal, and if he could heal, then Keith could apologize and everything would be fine again. They would all be a team again and that was all that mattered.

"Then we better pick up the pace," Pidge said.

"But what do I do until you guys get here?"

"Well…" Keith shrugged, "let Red get some steam out. Better them than us. If Red leaves, follow her and let us know where she goes."

"Ok…."

()

When Hunk arrived Red was still going at it. She and Brad were floating and watching the show. Hunk joined them.

It really was a savage display of raw menace.

Hunks screen buzzed as the ship tried to contact him and surrender.

"Yeah, I just shut off the com after a while," Allura said, "you wouldn't happen to have snacks with you?"

()

Lance could hear and feel the chaos.

But he didn't think too much about it. The floor was cool and felt fantastic against his face.

When the room caved in and Reds muzzle pushed through the gap she'd made, Lance only sighed. Her presence grew in his mind once again and he smiled.

"There you are," Lance muttered, "what took you so long?"

()

"There she goes," Allura called as Red tail swished back and forth as she lifted her head from the alien ship. She pushed off, sending the ship careening off into space like a plastic sack in the wind.

"I'll stay with the ship," Brad said, "You can follow that Red monster."

"Who are you calling-"

"Drop it Allura," Hunk said and kicked his lion into gear, "You're faster than me so hurry up and follow Red!"

"You think she has Lance?"

"Would she leave if she didn't?"

"Probably not…"

()

Shiro sat in a conference hall located in the Olkaris capitol building. Kolivan and Krolia were there with Iverson and Kent. Greg also sat with them and was doing a relatively decent job answering their questions.

"We do not wish to join any coalition," Greg replied, "My people only wish to be left alone! Which is why none of our ships are fit with warp drives."

"Then why did that ship jump?"

"The must have built it in themselves," Greg sighed, "they stole the ships and made contact out side our system, what makes you think they will obey the 'no warp drive' laws?!"

"Fair point," Kent said, "but you said there were a number of them?"

"Indeed," he said, "I and a few other trusted officers were sent out to retrieve these…pirates, before they did any harm or before they could draw attention to themselves. We had been doing well until recently. We hoped you humans would be the kind of race to simply move on….it does not seem to be the case…"

"No," Iverson said with a dry smile, "we're not."

"Just the opposite," Greg sighed, "I feared for my entire planet for a moment while interacting with your main team. They are a frightening group of people, are all of you that way when you are angry?"

"Not entirely," Shiro said slowly, "you see, for us and team Voltron, what your kin have done is personal. And in our race, when things get personal, things get ugly very quickly."

"By 'ugly' he means 'violent'," Kolivan said and Greg nodded.

"I see, so the human that those pirates questioned and has been captured yet again is an important member of this race."

"Of course," Kent said before Shiro could answer, "he was one of our planets heros."

"And a dear friend," Shiro added.

"How come he keeps getting caught?" Greg asked, "we as a people are clearly not as versed in space travel as you. It seems this human is a bit of a…hinderance? No…accident prone. Or perhaps he simply is a curse collector?"

"I would watch what you say," Krolia said conversationally, "Commander Shiro and Commander Iverson have been holding back, but they are one rude comment away from removing your head from your shoulders."

Gregs already gray skin turned a lighter shade.

"Forgive me…"

"Of course, they are valid questions," Kent said pointedly, "Lance was self-sacrificing in every way, which is why he always ended up in compromising situations."

Shiro gazed as Kent while he talked. He was well acquainted with all the diplomats on the ship and he had a working relationship with all of them. This also included Kent. He and Kent had spent many evening talking, sometimes over a drink. They had a lot of similar interests and he found Kents view on diplomacy a very rational one.

So why was he acting like such a creep right now?

"It seems those pirates were foolish and I and my crew will pay the price," he sighed, "I can count on you not making contact with my planet?"

"Why?" Kolivan asked, his eyes narrowing, "are you hiding something you shouldn't?"

Gregs met Kolivans eyes and narrowed his own, "only our way of life. It is said in our histories that when other races view out culture up close, they do not understand it and seek to destroy. We simply wish to live in our system in peace. That is all. I understand that reparations must be paid for ill actions as do my crew. We are willing-"

"We get it," Iverson said, keeping Greg from repeating himself for the twentieth time.

"That is very admirable of you," Kent replied kindly, "we hold a lot of respect for those of such responsibility, do we not Commanders?"

Shiro answered before Iverson, "Of course. But we also can not completely assess the information we're given until Voltron get's back with their information. Until then, you and your crew may stay on your ship. Each of your crew will be interviewed separately, as will any survivors from the stolen ships. Then, when or if everything checks out we will decide where to go from there. Is that alright with you?"

"Very well," Greg nodded and touched his temple in a proper bow, "we are at your mercy."


	14. Chapter 14

"Right," Keiths high had worn off as he got off the com with Allura and Hunk. What was up with that stupid robot?!

"We're almost there," Pidge said, sensing Keiths dwindling mood.

"Yeah…I don't like being separated like this…"

"Lance started it."

"I know."

"Good," she said, "hold on to that irritated feeling and let him have it when we see him."

()

"…Allura?"

"Don't look at me."

"But-"

"I can feel your eyes looking in my direction, Hunk, stop it!"

"But is that-"

"do I look like Coran to you?!"

They flew toward a planet that Hunk would bet a five star, seven course dinner that was a Balmera. It didn't look like the Balmera they had been to before, and as far as he knew, Shey and the others were still on Earth helping the rebels and Earth.

"I thought you said there was only one balmera left."

"Well, apparently we were wrong."

"Why is the Red lion going there instead of to the Atlas?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"Seesh, no need to yell."

Allura watched the planet get closer and shifted in her seat. She didn't like this. She didn't like that Red was taking Lance here instead of somewhere they could heal him. Was Lance in charge? If so, how did he know this was here and why would he need it?

()

"did you get that Shiro?" Keith asked as the B1NB came into view, circling the wreck of the alien ship.

"You're on ship site and Allura with Hunk is with Lance on a Balmera we didn't know existed," Shiro sighed, "you know, one day, I'm going to put my life in a series of one sentence summaries and see how messed up I can get them."

"We'll join you," Pidge said, "Make it a club."

"Who is in the B1?"

"Brad Pillon," Shiro said, "he was the first available to leave."

"Why do I suddenly feel surrounded?" Pidge asked with a shudder, "It like, we didn't even know these people existed and then all of a sudden they're all we're running into!"

"Sorry about that," Brads voice cam through their coms, "our family is a large one and we're strangely tight knit."

"'Strange' being the mild term?" Pidge asked and was shushed by Keith, even though he was ginning at her sas.

"Report," Keith ordered. Brad took his time answering.

"Their escape pods were damaged in the Red Lion Raid," he said, almost lazily which did nothing to endear him to the paladins, "They have gone into lock down in separate parts of the ship to withhold whatever integrity they can glean from that wreck. I'm picking up a fair bit of bodies, but it would be best to just pull the wreck to Olkarion instead of taking prisoners here."

Because your opinion was so necessary, Keith thought and rolled his eyes.

"Right," Keith said out loud, "You head back to the Atlas and get everything ready for our arrival. Make sure Greg knows everything you know. These are his people, so he gets a say in how they are treated."

"Awwww," Pidge cooed, "Keith, you do have a soul."

"Only sometimes," Keith sighed, "I blame hunk."

She chuckled as she flew over to the wreck and positioned her self above it. Keith was on his way as well when he noticed that Brad hadn't left yet.

"You're still here?"

"I didn't know you had stopped talking to me," Brad said, pointedly.

"…dismissed…" Keith said and Brad turned the B1NB around and warped away.

"what a weirdo," Pidge muttered, "do you still have that steal cord in you lion?"

"Yup," Keith said standing and making sure his helmet was secure, "we need some of those grappling hook functions that those modern Galra jets have."

"Shut up," Pidge said in mock fury, "this builds character! And its Hunk and I that would be doing all that anyway!"

"Right, right," Keith sighed as they both left to strap the wreckage to their lions.

()

Lance was young and sitting in the back seat of his fathers blue sedan. His mother was crying in the passenger seat and over the center console his parents held hands. He felt heavy, and angry. He didn't like the weight in his gut. He didn't like how his sisters sobs chorused with his mothers.

He didn't like this new suit that his papa had bought him just yesterday. It was black. It was too hot to wear black.

"Will she be there?" his mama asked finally pulling herself together.

"I would be surprised if they all didn't show up," his papa said, "not after we've taken away visitation rights. This is their only time to see the kids."

"We left them with a baby sitter…"

"Yes we did," there was tone of dark joy in his voice and it made Lance grin as well.

"What if-"

"I trust that family, not because they're our friends, hon, but because they know how to shoot trespassers."

"I hope it doesn't come to that."

"If it does, we know who to contact," his papa said squeezing his wifes hand.

"Yeah mama," Lance said confidently, "You had two sons, remember? And when I grow older, I'll take out the monsters."

"Not now, Lance," papa said, "don't say anything. In fact, don't go near them, you hear me?"

"Yes, Sir," Lance muttered, "but I will kill the monsters…starting with the big one."

"You will stay away from them unless you have someone else with you," his papa said firmly, his voice rising, "I don't care if you're the president of the world, if you disobey me, so help me, you are never too old for me to turn you over my knee!"

"Yessir," Lance said with more sincerity.

()

"Open up you stupid cat!" Allura snapped, giving the Red lion a healthy kick. Screaming in pain she hopped and Hunk offered his shoulder for her to balance on.

They had landed on the Balmera. The red lion sat there and didn't move. Nothing they did could make it open up. They had climbed all over it and had even tried to open communications with it.

Nothing doing.

"Heeey, Reeeed?" Hunk tried, "if Lance is bleeding, you not opening up is gonna kill him…sooooo…"

"LANCE! IF YOU'RE IN THERE AND CONSIOUS! THIS IS NOT FUNNY!"

Hunk winced as Allura went on her tirade. After a few minutes Hunk put his arms around her in the hopes of calming her down. She was worried. He was too.

()

Lance beamed at his acceptance letter. Showing it off he wasted no time in packing up and closing up his room. His sister, Rachel, spared no time moving her stuff into his room.

"Lance!"

Mari ran in with Marco behind her. The twins each grabbed a leg and made a huge show, taking large steps, lifting them into the air as he walked toward his door.

"Gosh! You guys have gotten heavy!"

They giggled and he ruffled their hair.

"When are you leaving?" They chorused.

"Mmm," Lance thought, "tomorrow."

"That's what you said yesterday!"

"Yup," he nodded and grinned, "why would I say that?"

"You just want us to think you're leaving so we'll come hug you!" Marco accused. Lance smiled.

"Guilty as charged," Lance sighed dramatically, "guess I'll have to stay an extra day then~!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Rachel called from down the hall, "I've waited TOO long for my own room!"

()

Lance was sitting in the garrison commissary and he observed the cadets in his year. There was one kid who was a year older, but was held back because of discipline issues. From what Lance had observed, the kid was really good. Good enough that any issues would normally be overlooked by admin.

Curious, Lance puzzled as he ate his food.

Someone sat across from him. Looking at him, Lance scowled.

"McClain right?" the boy with sandy brown hair asked with a smile and held out his hand, "My name is Ryan."

"Che," Lance rolled his eyes, "you think I wouldn't recognize a Pillon?"

Ryans eye's widened, "what's wrong?"

Wrong?

Did he really ask what was wrong?!

"Oh, nothing at all," Lance said, his voice dripping in sarcasm, "I'm going to go sit next to someone that doesn't make me want to vomit."

Why were the Pillons here?! He had chosen the Garrison, so why were they here? Should he call his parents and tell them?

No. Then he'd be forced to go home, and Lance had wanted this first! The Garrison had been his goal since he'd seen his first plane! This was his dream and he wasn't going to be scared off by a bunch of freaks!

He slammed his tray down, making the kid that the table nearly fall off his seat. Lance quickly masked his face with a smile.

"My name is Lance," he said, "May I sit here?"

"Sh-sure," the kid said gaining back his composure, "I'm Hunk."

()

"Coming in!" Keith called as he and Pidge descended to the open platform. Armed men and women stood around the area, ready incase the pirates put up a fight.

They set the ship down, then flew their lions to the Atlas. The Lions Hanger was fixed so they dropped their lions down and ran in search of Shiro.

He was in an interview with one of Gregs crew members and so they had to wait. As they waited outside the door Brek walked up and stood by the door with them.

"They. Are. Everywhre…" Pidge hissed and crossed her eyes. Keith had to hold back a snicker. But it was true; everywhere they turned, the Pillons seemed to be just around the corner.

Had they always been there?

Were they just noticing them?

After a while, Brek got antsy.

"Sir," he said turning to Keith, "I really must get back to my post. May I give you the repot to give to Commander Shiro and Commander Iverson?"

"Sure," Keith said facing him and holding out his hand. Brek placed a chip in Keiths palm and then quickly marched away.

"Maybe not all the apples are bad?" Keith asked looking sideways at his left hand.

Pidge shrugged, "at this point its guilty until proven innocent."

"Accept they haven't done anything wrong," Keith said and Pidges eyes nearly bulged from her head. Before she could let him have it, he said, "not on record. We KNOW they're guilty as sin, but until we have proof its not going to take off. There's nothing we can do."

"Can't we just send them back to Earth?" Pidge asked, "I'm beginning to understand these aliens that don't want the universe to be influenced by the horrible members of their society."

"We can't turn them into space dust, Pidge," Keith said but grinned.

"I never thought-"

"Its all over your face."

"Yours to," she accused and Keith shrugged.

"Never denied it."


	15. Chapter 15

_Lance liked this Hunk person. At first he was nice to him because the big guy was smart and Lance saw the benefit of having someone like that as a friend. Then, after a few months, Lance found he really liked the big guy. He was wimpy, sure, but was fun and matched up his silliness with his own._

 _It was then that Lance realized why the disciplinary kid, Keith, had been held back._

 _Ryan wasn't the only Pillon in the Garrison._

 _Up top was Janet and her daughter, Beth. They were admins of the school and Lance found himself in a ton of hot water, or, he would've been if Keith weren't taking all their attention. Because his skill was so good he was already a shoe-in for the upper-fighter class. A very prestigious position._

 _And if there's anything a Pillon likes more than anything, it's a prestigious position._

 _Lance watched Keith flounder in the world he had no idea he was in. Every time the Pillons would pull strings and make things difficult for him, somehow he missed their traps by luck alone. Lance loved it! To him, it was better than TV! This emo kid was torturing these people and had no idea! And that was what made it so good!_

 _At the end of the year they were given their spec-classes for the next year. He was a cargo pilot, class C. Hunk would be in Engineering-A._

 _So much for that friendship._

()

Shiro let out a long breath as he finally stood. Iverson kept a cool face, but Shiro knew the old man was was getting his mental state prepped to stand after the long day of sitting.

"Almost done," he sighed, "almost done."

"Keep telling yourself that," shiro grinned, "Keith and Pidge just came back with a few hundred more."

Iverson wrinkled his nose, "who asked them to do that?"

On cue Keith and Pidge came through the door. Keith handed over the report chip and Shiro pocketed it without much thought.

"What's the low down?" Keith asked and listened as Shiro and Iverson explained what their days of interviews had brought fourth.

"They truly are just a simple race," Iverson concluded, "any other circumstance and we would have been friends."

"We can still smooth things over," Shiro said, "but first we need to take care of those pirates."

"We'll head out again," Keith said and Pidge nodded, "We thought Allura and Hunk would be back before us."

Shiro nodded and wished them luck.

()

 _Lance stared at the reassignment sheet in his hands. He couldn't believe it!_

" _I thought I should put hope in potential," Iverson said, a cold compress over one eye, "do NOT make a fool of me McClain!"_

" _No Sir!" Lance beamed and saluted, "No regrets!"_

 _Lance couldn't believe it! He was fighter class!_

 _Why had they changed him?_

 _He grades couldn't be the answer, that was for sure. Iverson said something about potential…and that warmed him right down to his toes._

 _He ran to his dorm and told his roommate._

" _Oh, so you're taking Koganes place," he said with a shrug, "grats."_

"… _.what?"_

" _You didn't hear?" his roommate looked incredulous, "you? Mr. Gosip don't know the latest news? Well, Kogane got all pissy and punched Iverson in the face. He's expelled."_

 _Lance scowled. Was this for real? That guy had spent these years dodging the Pillons only to just give up? To give it all away anyway?_

 _What a jerk._

 _What a holier-than-thou jerk!_

 _He was a fantastic pilot and he just threw it away at the Pillons feet! He just gave up! What Lance would give for HALF that guys talent and he just GAVE UP!_

()

Allura paced as Hunk came running back from his lion.

"Keith and Pidge are on their way," he said, "I told them what was going on. Maybe they'll know what to do?"

()

" _Huuuuunk," Lance draped himself over his friends shoulders, "go on an adveeeentuuuure with meeeee~"_

" _We'll get caught!" Hunk protested, "you just moved up, starting next month. Do you really want to ruin that?"_

" _I hate spending the summer here," Lance pouted. He was forced to stay in order to catch up on what he'd need to know starting the next year._

" _just keep your nose clean and maybe they'll have us room together," hunk said excitedly, "also, starting next year we'll be separated into teams!"_

 _Lance thought about this and grinned._

" _I don't like that look, Lance," Hunk said with a frown._

" _Come on," Lance said, lowering his voice, "how about we break into the school system and make sure we're together!"_

 _He was beaming while the blood drained from Hunks face._

" _Don't even joke like that, Lance!" Hunk hissed, his voice squeaking._

" _Oh, how hard can it be~" Lances grin getting wider as he nonchalantly hit the record button on his phone and placed it to one side._

" _This school is still part of a government organization!" Hunk stressed and then, due to his nature as a perfectionist, he went though everything, step by step, on what they would have to do to break into the system. Lance prodded here and there, scoffing so that Hunk would stress the seriousness of it all with even more details._

 _Later that week, Lance snuck into Iversons office and opened his computer. Following Hunks instructions on the recording Lance put Hunk and himself as roommates and on the same team._

" _Now," Lance muttered, "for a com expert…inny-minni-minie….oooooo…"_

 _In the search of those in the communications field he came across the most impressive record. The guy had not only skipped a few grades, but had skills out the wazoo!_

" _Pleased to meet you," Lance said dropping Pidge Gundersons name over and dropping it below his and Hunks name, "you're gonna be just what I need."_

()

Lance eyes snapped open. The stench of blood was thick in his nose and his head was swimming in pain. There was an annoying dripping sound as he tried to make sense of his surroundings.

He had been picked up by Red, he remembered, and he had dragged himself to the cockpit. But he hadn't the strength to get into the seat; instead he had passed out while his head had rested on the pilots chair.

Moving his head ever so slightly, he could look over the edge of the seat. It was his blood making the dripping sound, coming off of his saturated armor.

I stink, he thought, I need a bath…

A light purr echoed in his ears and he smiled. It had been so long- too long, since he'd heard Reds voice in his head.

I'm up, he thought; he was too weak to speak anymore.

He felt the lion move.

Where were they going?

()

"HUZZAH!" Hunk cried as Red suddenly lowered her head and opened her mouth. They rushed in and froze. A line of blood lead from the mouth all the way to the cockpit area. Running faster they got to the head and neither of them could remember who had screamed the loudest.

()

Lance saw a blurry face enter his field of vision…which he realized wasn't that big. Could blood loss cause tunnel vision? He decided to keep that question to himself in case it made him sound like an idiot.

Now if only he could figure out who was at the other end of that tunnel, he'd feel a lot better. Red purred in his mind and put him at ease. The lion wouldn't let anyone but friends in.

He could feel hand on him, but didn't really register anything else. Were they speaking? He couldn't tell. What if he tried to communicate by waving at them?

He tried to move hi arm, but it didn't do anything. Instead a shot of pain ran from his elbow, through his shoulder and then spiderwebbed across his back and up into his skull.

Gasping, he made a mental note to not do that again.

()

"What!" Hunk lifted his hands as Lance convulsed, "what did we do?!"

"We'll worry about that later," Allura snapped, "we need to get him to the back and stop the bleeding."

Hunk worked and winced every time Lance reacted to a tug or the cleansing agent they used on his wounds. Allura worked swiftly and her fingers deftly followed the line of every cut and raised tissue. A little blue light appeared and she scowled. As she continued her work she noticed it again…and again.

After a time she noticed she was becoming tired and weak.

Allura," Hunk said reaching over Lance to grip her shoulder, "you don't look too good."

"I should say not," she laughed, "when was the last time we actually slept?"

"a good while ago," Hunk said, clipping off the last bandage, "now all we have to do is- Allura?"

She was dizzy. Very dizzy.

Leaning back slightly, she felt a pull. It was so subtle, she almost didn't register it. Reacting she pushed herself away for Lance as fast as she could and as far as she could.

"Whats wrong?"

She looked at her hands as her vision spun.

"Hhhhh-He was stealing mmmmy…my quintessence," she gasped, "It was just sinking into him!"

"That's not…ok…" he was about to say 'normal' but then, ever since they found a giant blue robot cat, what exactly was normal anymore?

"I need to get out…"

Allura gasped again, breathing was getting difficult. She stood and slowly made her way out of the lion, leaning on the walls for support.

Hunk was torn. He knew he should stay with Lance, but he was also concerned for Allura….he hated it when they split up.

Allura fell to the surface of the Balmera, taking in slow and even breaths as she closed her eyes to focus. It wouldn't do her any good to start panicking. This could be solved just like everything else.

Onpening her eyes she saw the ground glowing beneath her hands, the Balmeras strength trickling into her, replenishing what she'd lost. She soaked it in and felt the dizziness go away.

"Hunk!" She yelled into the lion, "Bring Lance out here and lay him on the ground!"

"Is that sanitary?!"

"Not the issue!" She yelled back, "Just do it!"

She heard him grumble, but knew he'd do it.

Her father had explained that Quintessence was life. Every time you came in contact with a living being you exchanged quintessence. Every handshake, slap on the back- every friendly gesture and even the unfriendly ones was an even exchange of quintessence.

For Lance to unconsciously steal hers…it didn't make any sense. She had helped him before when he'd save her life, but even then, it was an even exchange where she revitalized what was already there.

Hunk rested Lance on the ground in front of her as gently as he could. Allura was wondering if this was the reason Red had taken Lance here instead of back to the Atlas.

Connecting to the Balmera, Allura felt the presence of the creatures occupants. They had hidden themselves and were even more uneasy with her connection to them. She eased their worries, explaining that their friend was hurt and she needed to ask the Balmera for a boon.

These Balmerans were accepting and kind, but they insisted that they leave right after their boon was granted. They were a more shy race than Sheys people. Welcoming, yes, but if they don't have to actually interact with the visitors, then that was preferred.

Hunk let her do her thing while he made sure dust wasn't getting into Lances bandages. He worried Lance would have an infection again. His injuries were already bad without the threat of another week in Sickaby.

Allura spoke and exchanged quintessence with the Balmera as the great beast listened to her plea and plight. Then, as she sat back, waiting for an answer, a small blue crystal grew from the ground in front of her. Picking it up she admired the deep blue quality of the crystal. It was small, about the size of an Earth quarter and as round as a marble.

Truly it was a much darker blue than normal crystals. Allura asked about this, but the Balmera didn't answer back.

She gripped it tightly in one fist and rested a hand on Lances forehead.

She felt the power move from her fist, though her body and into Lance. There was a void there; empty and gaping for any light it could access.

She let Lance have it all he would take. When the pull ebbed she left her hand there until she was absolutely sure his quintessence was replenished. Lifting her hand she realized just how pale he had been before. Now there was color in his cheeks and his eyes flickered as they moved from Hunk to Allura.

"Thank you," she said out loud, to the Balmera. The fingers around the crystal had been to tight she had to ease her fingers open.

The crystal was white.

Allura had no idea what this meant, but felt she should return it. So she dug a small hold in the dirt and buried the now white crystal, thanking the Balmera and its inhabitants for their assistance.

"Is he gonna be better?" hunk asked, not sure what had just happened.

"Well," Allura sighed, "he has a better chance now than he did before."

()

Shadows…that's all they were.

He no longer had tunnel vision, but he still couldn't quite make out what was going on around him. He still couldn't hear anything.

The two shadows that had hovered above him as he fell in and out of consciousness multiplied into four. He did feel or sense he was in any danger and Red wasn't warning him in any way, so he closed his eyes and tried to not worry about it.

()

"So he's better?"

Keith asked looking down at Lance and then up at Allura, who shrugged.

"He was nearly empty of quintessence," she said, "I've never felt anything like it. But, with the Balmeras help, we were able to fill him up again….that sounds weird…"

"I can't tell anymore," Hunk said and Pidge nodded.

"Let's get him back to the Atlas, then," Keith said, "Think you can fly him Allura?"

"Sure," she nodded, "I'll keep tabs on him."


	16. Chapter 16

Lance shuddered and opened his eyes again. Expecting haze and shadows, he wasn't ready for the light that seared into his retenas. He hissed as he turned his head away. What was that?!

"Ah, you're awake."

That was Reems voice. Lance felt his gut drop. Hadn't he just gotten free of Sickbay? Why was he back?

Well, of course he was back.

But why was he back?!

"…'ill e' owww'…"

"That would go against my hypocritic oath," Reem said and Lance felt the old mans hand on his forehead, "still, you have been able to avoid infection this time. Garret was adamant that not a speck of dust be in the same room as you. He actually comes in every day and does spot cleaning. I never know weather or not to be insulted."

Lance felt the corners of his mouth twitch upward. Of course, hunk was a perfectionist.

"Now, before they visit today, I need to ask you a question."

Of course, Reem was a perfectionist as well.

"I've made detailed notes on all your injuries," Reem said slowly, "between the day I released you from my care and five days ago when you entered my care again. You acquired a bullet wound."

Lance visibly winced.

"Your friends who wrapped you up were much too concerned for your well being, they didn't recognize the wound for what it was. I am not so easily fooled. In space, lazers are the preferred long range weapons. According to Kolivan, only humans have bullet shooting weapons…I'd say a .22, so it didn't do too much damage…that I can tell. I can also tell that you were healed up rather nicely after you were shot."

Lance winced again.

"I wonder if you would prefer to keep this to your self or to share it with the Commander," Reem said, "before I felt obligated to share your injuries with him, but now, I believe you should tell them yourself. However, if you wish to not do so, then I'll need a very good reason not to either."

Lance, eyes squinting against the desk light, finally turned to Reem, and gave a slight nod.

()

"He up yet?" Pidge asked as they made their way to the single room in the back

"He did for a while," Reem said and stepped back as they all pushed, "however, he fell back to sleep soon after. I didn't even get him to eat anything."

"I know he needs rest, but this is ridiculous," Allura sighed.

"Maybe Hunk and Shiro will have better luck later on in the day," Keith said with a shrug.

The girls shook their heads, "we're still going in."

They sat with Lance and played with the cards in the nightstand drawer. Still, days passed and he was never awake when they came to visit. Allura raked Reem over the coals once insisting that Lance was either faking it or Reem was drugging him so that he was always sleeping. The doctor had to show her Lances medication schedule and walked her through his routine for her to finally calm down and leave him alone.

()

Lance opened his eyes to Kents smiling face.

He just raised an eyebrow.

"Glad to see you are doing better."

"Mmm," Lance said. He could talk just fine now, but that didn't mean he liked to.

"I thought you might like some sweets," he said putting a small bag on the nightstand. He reached over and poured Lance a glass of water. Lance sighed and sat up, his left side pinching slightly.

Taking the water, Kent poured a second glass for himself.

"I wish to thank you in person for helping my children get out of that situation unharmed," he said raising the glass, "to your health."

Lance rolled his eyes as Kent tipped his head back and drained the water.

"I know your parents told you not to talk to me," he said, as though this weren't a one sided conversation, "and that's fine. I understand why. I understand how you and your family could misunderstand mine. Perhaps you could just tell me how my grand children are doing? I've not even heard about them for the last five years."

Lance considered, then said, "you're allowed to visit them."

"Visitations under supervision is not-"

"Its something," Lance said, "and taking what you can get would at least show them that you care."

"Does Mari look like her mother?"

"they both take more after their father," Lance said.

"Mm," Kent nodded, "I bet that's hard on your mother."

Lances face darkened slightly. He didn't like Kent talking about his mother in any way, shape, or form.

"Oh don't look at me like that," Kent sighed, "I'm sorry. I truly am."

Lance drank his water to hide his face. He didn't believe the officer for a second and he knew it showed on his face.

"What can we do to…at least settle this feud?"

Lance put his glass down, looked kent in the eye, and couldn't hold it in anymore.

He laughed.

Holding both his sides, Lance bent over. Gasping for air, it only fueled more giggles and snorts.

"Owowowoowwwaaahahahahaha," he keened wiping a tear from his face. He couldn't help it. The urge to laugh was just too much. It was overwhelming and overdue.

"I am failing to see the joke," Kent said, he was still smiling. Lance glanced up at him and shook his head. It took a moment for him to get control of himself again.

Taking a deep breath, Lance finally answered him, "This isn't a, what did you call it? Oh right, this isn't a 'feud', Kent, a 'feud' is what neighbors have when they're arguing where the fence or hedge goes!"

"I do not wish to argue with you or your family any more," Kent sighed, the smile finally fading to be replaced by a sincere expression, "we must come to some kind of truce."

"Fool me once," Lance said and just glared. Kent knew the rest of the saying, and Lance knew that Kent was smart enough to know exactly what Lance was talking about.

Kent huffed, "then what do you say? There is a problem. No doubt. You can't argue with that. How would you solve it?"

Lance looked him right in the eye and said, "I wonder, Kent. You tormented my family. What do you think the 'Answer' is?"

For all his intelligence, it took a long moment for the answer to sink in. Kents eyes widened and he stared at Lance incredulously.

"Do those others know you have a dark side? To hear them talk these last few weeks, you would think you were an innocent angel in need of all the protection they could muster."

Lance shrugged one shoulder, "I'm sure they've guessed a while back. And, Kent, you came here to thank me, so I guess I am rather angel like, wouldn't you say?"

They both laughed, the air between them crackling.

()

Greg sat with Shiro and Iverson as they interviewed the criminal aliens. It was, odd.

Some were apologetic, others were rude and thuggish. But when they interviewed those that were in the leadership of the ship, they could only be described as edgy. Shiro could've sworn he'd seen one twitch and another one start drooling, all three eyes glazed over in a stupor.

When asked about it, Greg shook his head, "I've never seen any of my people behave in such a way."

()

Keith and Pidge sat by Lances bed as she tried to teach him how to play Black Jack. Lance really was looking a lot better, but it worried them how much sleep he seemed to need. Even Reem had said it wasn't normal, but there was nothing else indication that anything was wrong. So Reem told them to let him sleep as much as he needed.

So they were doomed to boredom until Lance had gotten enough sleep.

However today, something changed.

Raised voices could be heard through the door. Pidge and Keith glanced at each other, but when Lance mumbled in his sleep and turned his head, they snapped into action.

Opening the door, they shut it quickly behind them. Keith rounded on the first person he saw.

"Shut up!" He hissed, "you'll wake him up!"

Shrio and Kent were holding Greg by his arms. Kent didn't pay Keith any mind and continued to argue.

"If he doesn't want to be here, then we shouldn't make him," he said, giving no indication that he even knew how to raise his voice.

"PLEASE!" Greg shouted, the culprit of all the noise, "Don't make me go any closer!"

"You were the one who said you wished to ap0ologize!" Shiro snapped, "its not that hard."

"May I interveen?" Reem askedshoving both Shiro and Kent out of his way, "You are the same race that injured my patent in there, are you not?"

Greg shuddered and took a few steps back.

"I am," Greg said, "May we speak out in the hall? I do not wish to be so close to someone so…dirty…"

Keith and Pidge bristled and even Shiros teeth clenched.

"Before," Reem said holding up his hand to stop them, "they ask you what you mean by that. I need to ask you about these."

He pulled out photos from his file and handed them over to the alien.

"They are injuries I am un aware of how they could have been made and I don't know how to fix it," Reem explained. Lance looked like he had roots spreading just under his skin. The skin was raised and branched out from his other injuries. However, there wasn't anything Reem could see that had caused this. They weren't discolored, and the marks on his body were almost invisible. But there were marks branching from a cut on his shoulder that one could follow up his neck and then if blossomed all over one side of his face. The eardrum on that side of his head was ruptured as well, but Reem knew how to heal that no problem.

Greg, distracted by the pictures, looked through them quickly. Then he took off both his gloves and showed the doctor what he'd shown the paladins before. Thin black filiments coming from the slits in his palms.

"My guess would be the marks were caused by our Finders," he said and sniffed, "Allow me to explain more fully. Every member or our race has a…marker…we can tell the difference between each other by these markers. We mate with only one other. We mark each other by touching our Finders together. Those who hold two markers are paired and thus off limits to any other. To be paired with more than one other is…dirty. It is not done. There is a law that says we do not touch other living beings with our Finders. It is not done!"

"Well," Reem said, sighing, "it was done here."

"I can tell," Greg said through his own clenched teeth, "I can sense the many markers existing in one body. It is not natural. I do not blame the owner of that body, but any self-respecting member of my race will not and could not stand to be in the same room as him. I do wish to express my sorrow at his plight, but I can not bare to go any closer."

"Will those markers do anything to him?" Pidge asked, wondering if she should be panicking.

"I am unsure," Greg replied and thought hard, "in our ancient stories , the reason we do not touch others with our Finders is because when we do, we 'XX XXX X', or, in the common tongue, we 'take without giving'. We have no recent examples of what happens since no one has ever violated this law until recently."

"Allura said when they found Lance, he was drained of quintessence," Shiro said, "could that be the reason?"

Greg thought, and then nodded, "it could be. When sealing partners there is a specific exchange of self through the Finders. I could see that being the case. It would also explain why the law exists and why we no longer wish to explore and mingle with strangers. In the longer form of the law, it states that we should never 'seek to begin the hunger'. We have lost the true meaning of these words, but…I am beginning to understand. This would also explain the odd behavior of the pirate leaders."

"So now what?" Keith asked, "will those marks go away?"

Greg looked at the pictures again, "I am not sure. I hope so. If I can offer any aid, I shall. But I would prefer to not go near him…and please make sure I'm dead if you need me to come in contact with him."

"So those pirates just get sent back to your planet?" Pidge asked.

"No," Greg replied, "As well as offer my apologies, I wished to know what his vengeance required. He was the one wronged, I desired his input. However, now that I know the extent of their misdeeds, the only choice left is death. The punishment in regards to the misuse of ones Finders is death."


	17. Chapter 17

"I wish to interrogate the pirate leaders by myself, if that is permissible," Greg said, "one at a time. All the ones that acted oddly during the first one."

Shiro and Iverson exchanged a look. Before the could answer, Kent spoke up, "I believe at least one of us should be there."

"I do not wish to complicate matters," Greg replied, "I will stress my desire to do this alone, however it will be by your leave."

"Have fun," Shiro said.

"Kent, if you could wait outside the door?" Iverson asked, "Greg, you will knock when you are done. Is that ok?"

"I do not think-"

"No one cares what you think right now, Kent," Iverson sighed, "You are a diplomate on your way to a planet with a people that are very different than these. This situation is outside your realm of influence. This is mine and commander Shiros jurisdiction, do I make myself clear, officer?"

"Very clear, Sir," Kent said.

"I thank you," Greg bowed by touching his temple.

()

Iverson and Shiro snuck into an adjoining room and brought up the screens.

"We didn't tell him there were cameras, did we," Shiro said and Iverson gave a side grin.

"Of course not. And I was about to shove my dirty sock in Kents mouth if he'd tried to mention it."

Shiro took another long look at Iverson. Was it just him, or did the man suddenly lose the stick up his butt? Or maybe it was only there at school? Either way, Iverson was proving to not only be a good ally, but a good friend as well.

They watched the screen closely as Greg was brought the first prisoner. Greg spoke the aliens name, and then proceeded to list his crimes, including the misuse of his Finders.

"Do you deny any of these claims?"

The alien tilted his head, "You know," he slurred, "…then again you don't know…you don't know. It was like I was living in a rock. But just leaving was euphoric! And then…to taste the souls of others…you don't know….you just don't know…"

"That did not answer my question," Greg replied, "Do you deny any of the claims I made against you?"

"Nope," he said his grin splitting his head even further, "but you can add even more souls to my list. That brat wasn't the first. I'll admit we were rough with him, but that was because it had been so long since we'd last eaten….have you ever truly eaten? Ever truly been full? It's a feeling that's so comfortable…so…right…"

"Then you are hereby sentenced to death. I will take you back to our capitol where you will be given a public execution. However, you have lost all, take off your gloves," Greg said, making sure his were in place. He then took out a long, thin dagger from his belt. With it he cut a small scratch into his jaw line.

The criminal went mad. He couldn't get his gloves off fast enough as the black filliments leapt for Gregs face and the blood beading above his gray skin.

In amazement, the Commanders watched as Greg reached out, without flinching, wrapped his hands around every black thread and severed them from the criminals hands with his dagger.

The pirate screamed. He crumpled and writhed in pure agony.

Greg dropped the limp and curling filiments to the floor like they were a handful of hair he'd dug out of the shower drain.

"Next," He called out into the hall.

()

Lance woke up to find Keith playing solitaire with his deck of cards. They had been a gift form Willston.

"You can put the five on that six over there," Lance said making Keith jump.

"You're awake?!"

Lance winced, "yes, and not deft…"

"Sorry," Keith said and an awkward silence settled over them both. Lance used this opportunity to sit up.

This was the first time facing them in a long time. He'd had it out with Shiro, but not the others…yet.

"Lance-"

"I'm really sorry, Keith," Lance said quickly, "I wanted to wait till I saw everyone, but…I know it wasn't any of your guys fault. I knew that, but it hurt that none of you noticed I was gone. When I realized that I told Shiro I'd been joy-riding. I thought I'd said it sarcastically enough, but I guess it went right over his head. Still, I should've been more open and honest with all of you and I'm really sorry-"

"OH SHUT UP!" Lance gaped as Keiths face turned bright red in anger.

"Shut up!" he said again, "why do you get to apologize first?! I was about to before you interrupted! Seriously, what's your problem?! Its my fault for not checking with you about what…what's-his-face told me. Of course you didn't think you could rely on us-"

"What?" Lance shot back, "you really think that spat with Ryan would actually upset me? HA! I'm not that weak minded!"

"We should've known you were gone."

"Really? Cause about that time you, Allura, and Shiro were hardly getting any sleep. I bet an entire Galra fleet could've crossed that radar and you guys would be in a meeting. I was just apologizing for unjustly blaming you guys for that, so just take it!"

"I am!" Keith snapped, "And I'm apologizing for not being a better leader!"

Lance went from irritated to slightly panicked.

"What kind of leader makes a member of his team think he's not trusted? What kind of leader allows a member of his team to just disappear like that? To not know anything about what's going on?"

Lance felt the weight in his gut like a cold stone.

"…Keith…I've not been very honest with-"

"Hunk called us brothers," Keith said. He was staring at his hands, "before I only saw Shiro as a brother…because he'd been the only one to actually trust me. When Hunk called us all brothers…I didn't know how to take it. I didn't…I still don't know how actual families work. I've watched Pidge with her brother, and I watched hunk and you with your siblings on Earth."

Lance didn't say anything. He had no idea what to say. Keith was trying to make a point and Lance couldn't fathom what it was.

"What kind of brother goes to a meeting while his brother is being hurt?" Keith said thickly, his shoulders shaking and tears burning his eyes as he looked up and glared at Lance, "If we're brothers, then why are you there, and I'm here?! I'm older than you, damnit! Why wasn't I there?! Why wasn't I there to protect my brother?! Why are you hurt and I'm…I'm just sitting here!"

"Hey-"

"DAMNIT! Why wasn't I there?!"

"Hey!"

"You guys are the only family I have and it almost got broken again and-"

Lance wrapped his arms around Keith and held him as he cried.

"I think," Lance said, trying humor on for size, "the main question is, 'what kind of older brother starts sobbing in front of the younger brother', no?"

Keith pulled back and glared.

Too soon.

()

Getting through all the awkwardness with the others was an all day process helped along with Hunks over the top display of affection and a healthy smattering of insults between Keith and Lance. Pidge looked a little disappointed. She'd spent the last few day reminding everyone to let Lance have it so she could be the nice one. But it hadn't worked out. So she, instead, commanded the spot on his bed between him and the wall. Hunk claimed his other side, and Allura sat at the end of the bed.

They talked about nothing, just useless chatter until Reem came in and told them that visiting hours were over.

Reem waited for the door to shut before turning to Lance.

"Well?"

"I'll tell them myself," Lance sighed, "promise. Just let us…ease into it…k?"

Reem scoffed, "you don't 'ease' into a conversation like that."

"Not for the lack of trying, Doc," Lance said, "let me do this. I promised, didn't i?"

"You did," Reem said, "And to make sure, Willston is coming to see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I figured I'd be seeing him again."

Reem smiled, "get some sleep."

()

"It was…something," Iverson said as Lances jaw dropped. Shiro had just finished telling him about Gregs 'interrogation' and what the status was on the pirates.

"Apparently those finder-thingies are a vital part of their body," Shiro said, "having them cut off is about the same as being mutilated."

"He only cut off those that had 'misused' them," Iverson said, "three in total. The rest can retain theirs but will still be executed."

Lance nodded. He felt no sympathy for them. Not even a little.

"Greg would like to know if that is alright with you," Shiro asked, "is there anything else you would like to have done?"

Lance shook his head, "nope. Their punishment by their law is fine with me."

Shiro reached over and ruffled his hair, "Com us if you need anything, alright?"

"I'll ask the Doc to," Lance said, "I still can't find my Com unit."

"Where did you leave it last?"

"In Hanger 1," Lance answered, "before I…before the first time…"

"Got it," Shiro nodded, "I'll look around and see what I can find."

"Probably in Hanger 2," Lance grinned and Shiro frowned.

"What's wrong with Hanger 2?"

Lance laughed, "seriously, you guys need to get out more!"

()

Pidge made her way to Hanger 3 to talk to Jacobs and find out who she could steal to test out their Spec Pods. On her way she ran into Cassy.

"Hi," Pidge grinned, "how are you-"

Cass just pushed past without looking. Frowning, Pidge continued on. She had thought she was better with people…guess not.

()

"It was crazy!" Hunk exclaimed. He and Allura were trying to explain what had happened when they had left after Red.

"So much happened in such a small amount of time," Allura nodded, "It felt like quintants."

"It was quintants."

"I mean longer quintants," Allura stressed, "I thought we'd be on that Balmera forever!"

"But these guys, Greg's ship, they checked out?" Lance asked. He was curious about this Greg guy, but was told by Shiro that that was never going to happen.

"Yeah," Hunk shrugged, "they were annoying, and their tech, although advanced and awesome, was not being used correctly, or even to its fullest extent! Pidge and I felt like MacGyver trying to get that ship to go a decent speed!"

They laughed now. Now that everyone was safe and things were going to be ok.

"Hey!" Pidge flung the door open, "I thought I told you guys to wait for me!"

"Did you get an volunteers?" Hunk asked, ignoring her accusations.

"Two," she said, "I asked Cassy and her cousin, but they practically ran away from me."

"Guess they really want nothing to do with us," Allura said, and when Lance gave her a questioning look she reminded him of their talk with them.

"That's riiight," Lance nodded, "yeah, you might want to really see if they're ok though."

"Ok," Hunk shrugged, "but why?"

"Just a hunch," Lance said, "James and Cassy are good people. They wouldn't avoid you like that unless someone was on their tail."

Allura squinted at him, "care to let us in on WHO that might be?"

"…not yet," Lance said, "if you haven't guessed yet-"

"The Pillons," the three of them chorused. Lance raised both eyebrows.

"So you know?"

"We know they really don't like you," Hunk said.

"And we know they give us the creeps," Pidge said.

"But other than that, we don't know," Allura said with a sigh, "until SOMEONE gives us something to go on, we can't punish them for being creepy."

"You can't punish them with what I've got either," Lance shrugged.

"Which iiiiiisssss…."

"Later," Lance said, "I promise. I just need to get my stuff together and then I'll spill my guts."

The three of them scowled at him and he shrunk under their gazes.

()

Later, at night, Kent visited Lance once more. This time he brought two cans of soda.

"Cheers," Lance said holding up his can.

"Cheers," Kent nodded holding up his own.

They drank and sat in silence for a while.

"I hear you will be discharged tomorrow. Congratulations."

"Oh, shucks," Lance sighed, "you are too kind."

"That tone is highly unnecessary," Kent said, taking another sip.

"Oh, but it is," Lance said, and downed his drink, "so who are we pinning this on?"

"Pardon?"

Lance laughed, "Please, Kent. Carbon and sugar only do so much. You wont take the fall for my death, you coward. Who are you going to throw under the bus? Is it Cassy? Or her cousin James? I know you got to them, though no one knows its you. If I'm about to die, foaming at the mouth, you owe me a story."

Kent didn't say anything and drank his soda. Lance took a deep breath and ran his tongue over the roof of his mouth; tasting the bitter after taste of poison in the soda.

"You will not foam at the mouth," Kent said after a time, "you will simply sleep and not wake up."

"mmmm, learned your lesson with the last time you poisoned a member of my family," Lance yawned, "man, it has been a long day."

"The Harris kids will take the fall," Kent drank the rest of his soda, "they should not have stolen your com device. They should not have lied and driven the wedge deeper and deeper between our relations. It was a very selfish thing for them to do."

"Oh, very selfish," Lance nodded in complete agreement, "how dare they use my communicator to spy on my teammates and friends. How dare they presume to see my friends, as their friends. How foolish."

Kent and Lance locked eyes. Then Kent stood.

"Good night, Lance," he said opening the door, "please say hello to your brother for me?"

Lance just smiled, and waved.


	18. Chapter 18

The next day Keith and Shiro made their way to Sickbay.

Pidge and Hunk were occupied with their pod experiments. They wanted to be there for when Lance was released, but their peers raked them over the coals for being gone all the time. Keith and Allura drew straws to see who would go with shiro and who would stay and help Iverson.

"How much do you wanna bet he's already gone?" Shiro asked and Keith snorted.

"I'll take that bet. Reem wouldn't release him a minute before he's supposed to, and where he argues with us all the time, I've never seen him argue with Reem."

"Mmm," Shiro nodded, "but this is Lance we're talking about."

"Should be interesting to find out who's right."

Chuckling, they walking through the Sickbay doors.

()

Pidge frowned at her clip board. She glanced at Hunk for the tenth time that minute.

"Staring at me wont make it go any faster," hunk muttered.

"Yeah, but staring at the test subjects make them nervous," Pidge retorted.

"I wanna go as badly as you do."

"What's stopping us from sneaking away?"

"Just think about how Lance will react when we tell him that NOW he can try out the pods…because they're ready."

Pidge did think about it. And it made her grin.

"Fine."

()

Greg sat with Allura to go after the finer point of their agreement.

"We will make it clear that your system is to be avoided at all costs," Allura said, "however, I'll give you a communicator in case something like this happens again."

"I will take it to my people, but do not be surprised if they smash it and I am executed with the pirates," Greg said as if they were discussing salad dressings.

"I hope you are not executed," Allura said, and meant it, "you have been more than a great help to us, and your people should be proud that you have protected them so well."

"I thank you for the respect you have shown my crew."

"Of course," Allura replied and smiled, "make sure you thank the Olkaries as well. They fixed your ship so that you will get to your planet in no time."

"Yet another thing that could have me killed," Greg sighed, "but we must get the pirates home to face their deaths in shame."

Allura didn't like how the alien spoke about capitol punishment. But this was their laws and culture. So she smiled, and nodded, and hurried to sent them on their way.

()

"Oh my STARS! Doc! I've had a shower! I've changed my clothes! I had a good-bye shot from the nurse! I've gone through the whole good-bye physical! Its five dobashes to the nearest varga! Let! Me! Leave~!"

Lance stood only a few feet from the door with Reem standing in between him and freedom.

"Draw?" Keith asked.

"Draw," Shiro grinned.

They walked up to them, ready to tease lance mercilessly when both of them were shoved violently out of the way.

"Murderer!" Brek shouted, his face almost purple with rage, "You FILTHY murderer!"

Lance took many steps back as the man advanced. Jordan and Brad were right behind him. On instinct, keith and shiro grabbed them and pushed their way in between them and Lance.

"Now just wait a second," Shiro said, trying to calm the situation, "explain yourself. You can't just come in here and accuse someone of murder."

"Our dad," Brad said, "Officer Kent Pillon, didn't show up for his meetings this morning. We went to see if he was sick or something and we found him dead, in his room."

"Aaaand you think this guy did it?" Keith asked, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Lance, "he's been in Sickbay this whole time. He's not allowed to leave until…about…three minutes from now."

"We know he did it," Brek growled, "there's no one on this ship that would!"

"Why?"

Keith and Shiro turned to Lance, who didn't look worried at all. He shrugged one shoulder.

"Why would I have a reason to kill Kent?"

The three brothers stood, dumbfounded. They knew. But they couldn't say it out loud.

"Kent was old," Lance said, his face softening into a sympathetic expression, "I'm really sorry to hear he died. If I can help, or support you guys in any way, will you please let me know?"

The anger was indescribable; on their faces and in the air itself, Lance was the focus of all their hostility. And Lance didn't seem to notice, not one bit.

()

"I think we need an explanation," Shiro said sitting across from Lance. They got a private room that evening in the Olkaries capitol building, so they could eat dinner with just the six of them.

"If you say 'later', I'll skin you," Pidge said jabbing her fork in his direction.

"Lance muttered something under his breath and sat back from his plate. Poking at his food he tried to figure out where the best place to start was.

"Sooo," he said, delaying as much as possible, "I had an older brother. He got married to Elizabeth Pillon and she had twins. After she had them, she kind of went off the deep end. Post partum depression hit her like a freight train. My older brother tried to help her and be supportive and take care of the babies at the same time. He lived closer to the Pillons at this time and relied on them a lot. Even when my mom went out to help, she could only stay a few weeks.

Then, after a few months, Beth tried to kill the babies. My brother had gone down stairs to answer the door when a neighbor came over to check up on them. He heard the babies start to cry so he left and went into the nursery. Beth had Mari by the ankle in one hand and was trying to open the window with the other. When she saw my brother she tried to swing Mari against the wall before he got to her. Good thing he was a quick thinker and was able to get there and protect Mari.

Anyway, long story short, my brother had her institutionalized- against Janets and Kents telling him not to- and then…something happened, he never told us what, but he moved back home. He filed a restraining order on all the Pillings and then, in their daughters place, filed for divorce before my brother could. So they were in charge of the proceedings, but in the end, we won custody of the kids and my brother, a miracle worker, was able to get supervised visitations. They weren't allowed near him, but he couldn't stop them completely from seeing the grandkids.

The courts needed him to go back to their old house to sign some final documents and all that jazz. He was gone for a few days, and he came home dead.

Literally.

His plane came into the airport and he wasn't breathing."

Lance poked at his food as the others stared at him. He thought back to the funeral and how everyone knew it had been the Pillons fault, but no one would prosecute them. The Pillons still couldn't see the kids without someone there, but somehow, they seemed to get the last laugh.

"I joined the garrison thinking if I got high enough in the society food chain, I could dish out a bit of payback. Get a little bit of justice. I'm really sorry, Hunk, and even you Pidge, I jacked the system and put us together."

"HOW?!" Pidge shouted, "You go to copy and paste and end up deleting the file!"

"Hunk told me how," Lance grinned and they rounded on Hunk, who looked so confused, "anyway, I used you guys to make things difficult for Ryan and Jordan and Instructor Janet."

"…those favors you asked…" hunk said slowly thinking about all the times Lance had used the term 'just this once'.

"All the times you wanted to leave campus and "go adventuring" was just to go use a different wifi so you wouldn't be traced!" Pidge shouted, amazed. Lance nodded.

"I have almost a hundred different emails," he said, "I'd make one, send Kent about a dozen 'I know what you did last summer' kind of emails, and then shut it down. I wanted them to know that I knew a lot more than they thought anyone did. They thought that by getting rid of my brother then they got rid of the only witness. But I guessed at what had made him come home. And I guessed right. Amazing what a little trial and error mixed with twenty questions will get you."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Shiro asked.

Lance scratched his neck, "honestly? When we left for Aris, I was so pissed. All I could think of was not dying because I was not going to die before that old freak. After a while…I forgot about it. I got wrapped up with you guys and Voltron, and defeating the Galra and protecting the universe that I didn't think about the Pillons the whole time.

Then we went back to Earth, and I still didn't think about them because Sendak had this funny talent to make you forget about anything other than kicking his butt. I didn't remember that the Pillons were a thing until right before we left on the Atlas. Ryan was being a pill and Jordan started to talk smack. I threw it back in their face by getting Romell to pretend to kiss me on the cheek. The look on their faces were hilarious, by the way."

"She knew about all this?!" Alluras voice rose an octave in indignation.

"No, she didn't," Lance said, "but she did help by not asking any questions. After a while she also found the reactions hilarious, so it became a joke between us. And who am I to say no to a kiss on the cheek from a lovely lady?"

"Of course," they chorused rolling their eyes. Typical Lance.

"Did you kill him?" Keith asked into the new silence. He was talking about Kent. Lance didn't look up, and when he did, he was calm.

"Kent committed suicide," Lance said seriously, "he should not have played with a Cuban, when death was on the line. There is a reason I and my family have gotten as far as we have. After what happened to my brother I made it my goal to become immune to as many poisons as possible. My hand did not kill Kent. But I didn't stop him when he drank out of my can of soda."

Lance had swapped them in the middle of their conversation. Kent had put his can down and Lance had done the same. He even let Kent pick up a can first, and when he saw Kent take the wrong one, he didn't stop him.

()

They dressed Kents body and sent it back with Jordan and another officer as escort. They would come back with a replacement officer to take his place.

Brad and Brek were silent, but continued to be hostile. Ryan was a mess, behaving as one would expect a child who had lost his father would.

Lance found Cassy and James and explained that they were off the hook. He explained, not everything, but enough for them to know that they were safe and that if anything else happened from then on, then they were to come straight to him or the rest of the team.

"We told them," James said, "we told them talking does no good."

"No," Lance said, "it really doesn't. But thanks. It helped me out."

"And that's what's important," Cassy said sticking her tongue out at James.

()

Brad hissed as he slammed his locker shut. It had been a long day. A very long day. He had just gotten word that they had arrived on Earth. He had let Ryan talk with their mom and let Brek go after the kid was done. Brad would call them later. He had to settle his own feelings first. He couldn't face his mother like this.

As he walked into his room, he didn't expect to find McClain sitting at his desk.

"What do you want?" he growled, "you looking for another bullet?"

"I didn't tell them about Jordans…violation of a truce, that was his idea by the way. I've not come up with a good lie about where the bullet would came from, so I've been dancing around it, but I'll come up with something. That's not why I'm here."

"Then spill."

"I'm here cause I wanted to tell you that Kent asked me what we would have to do to fix things between our families. I basically told him to make it even. Then he tried to off me, but drank the wrong can. I'm not going to lie, like all of you did for all these years, you see, I'm not sad he's gone. That anger and pain you're feeling? We've felt it everyday, and then you all had the gal to pity us and ask us if we needed your help…I've plotted every one of your deaths over and over again. But we're even now. One death per family all caused by Kents hand. So, the question is, will it end here? Or will you make a move?"

Brad threw his uniform jacket onto his bed and sat on it.

"I've not made up my mind, yet."

Lance shrugged his one shoulder, "I've noticed."

"I can't speak for how my brothers will react."

"Ah, your brothers," Lance nodded and sighed, "You're sisters are a piece of mental work all by themselves. You, the oldest, were your fathers right hand man. You are successful and have your own money and are fully capable of standing on your own two feet. Now your brothers, heh, there's Brek, constantly mooching off your parents and couldn't find his own nose if he had a mirror. Then you have Jordan, never finishes what he starts, a jokester in his own right, a pervert or worse, but he is fiercely loyal to his family. He would go to any lengths to side with any member of his family even the ones he doesn't like. Then there's little baby Ryan. Little, spoiled, baby Ryan. None of you like him very much, but he still is the baby, and family. But Ryan always get's his way. None of you have ever really had opposition in life. Everything just…worked out for you, didn't it?"

"You forgot Cory," Brad said through clenched teeth.

"No I didn't," Lance shrugged, "Cory is the only sane member of your family. He got out of that house the moment it was legal for him to do so. He married a wonderful woman who keeps the crazy all you Pillons are capable of at bay. They have three well behaved kids. Cory is the only Pillon I didn't think about killing."

"So you got us all pegged," Brad huffed, "how is this supposed to convince me to back off?"

"How well do you know me?" Lance asked. Brad scowled.

"What?"

"You're planning revenge? You've really got to know your enemy. Not one of your brothers can take Kents place. You could, however. You are the only potential threat I see. I don't doubt you could get to know me like I know your family, Brad, but it will take time. Time you don't have."

Brad stood and bent over Lance.

"You watch it."

"I've been watching, Brad," Lance said calmly, "being your fathers right hand must've really taxed you. You looked for any kind of release. Spiking an already spiked drink is never a good idea if you want a long and healthy life."

"I hate you…I hated your brother…I hate you all…"

"The feeling is mutual, I assure you," Lance said waving the issue aside, "but I really need to know if you plan on acting on that hatred. It would be a waist of your short time, but in the spirit of laying ones cards on the table, I believe we can come to an arrangement were both our families can be at peace."

"…dad say that to you?"

"It sucks having your words thrown back in your face, doesn't it?" Lance smiled.

Brad watched Lances face, the lines spider webbing across it were barely noticeable anymore.

"We had nothing to do with those aliens-"

Lance sighed and rolled his eyes, "well duh, those aliens were an accident that even Kent wasn't omnipotent enough to see. No, you guys just planned on letting me float in space and die out there slowly."

Brad sat back down on the bed. He ran his hands over his face and bit back the rage that filled him. They really had tried to get rid of McClain. There were sins on both sides.

"Fine," Brad said, and with that decision he felt a lead weight lift from his gut, "you've nothing to fear from me."

Lance nodded, "and you nothing from me."


	19. Chapter 19

They waved as Greg and his crew set off.

"He's gonna be ok, right?" Pidge asked and Allura shrugged.

"I have no idea."

()

Later that week, Lance was making his way through the corridors when he ran into Ryan for the first time since they'd been captured together.

Ryan glowered at him. Lance ignored him.

"I wish Jordan and shot you better," Ryan said before Lance could safely walk away.

"You know, a rather disturbing part of me wishes that too sometimes?" Lance replied, turning around to face the other boy.

"This is all your fault!"

Lance knew it was pointless to argue. So he just shook his head and turned back to walk away. Then he remembered something.

Turning back to face Ryan again he said, "I'll need my communicator back, if you don't mind. I've got some personal things on there. I'm sure you all looked through it, but I still need them."

Ryan flipped Lance off and walked away.

Lance sighed and took a detour to the lab. He'd use Pidges computer to send Brad an email. He really needed his Communicator back.

()

"But they work now!"

"No."

"Common~ Laaaance~ Pleeeaaaase~?"

"Not on your life."

Pidge pouted and turned her doe eyes on him, "but we built it ourselves."

"yeah," Lance said, "I'm not getting back inside those pods. You can not pay me enough to do so!"

"But we're not offering pay," Hunk said putting his head next to Pidges, his chin resting on her shoulder as he mimicked her pouty look, "we're offering out hard work and devotion."

"Just because you times that look by two doesn't mean I'll change my mind," Lance snapped.

"Plan B," Pidge said and reached out, grabbing Lances arm. She held on, looking up at him with her pout. Hunk took the other side, hugging Lance around the shoulders and rubbing his cheek against Lances cheek.

"Plllleeeeaaaaasssseeeee~"

"Noooooooo~"

For as long as they held out 'please', lance held out 'no'.

They were in Hanger 2, Lance was doing his best to get back to work as normal. Hunk and Pidge had other ideas. They had tested out their Spec Pods and found them to be perfect. Now they wanted him to try them.

They underestimated Lances hatred for the pods after his misadventure before.

"But Lance!" Pidge released his arm to embrace his midsection as well, pinning his arms to his sides, "These pods are our brain children! You can't abandon them! You're like their uncle! You can't hate them!"

"Don't even go there," Lance scoffed, "They are not like the cats. They aren't sentient!"

"Give us time," Hunk said, "we could get there eventually."

"Aren't there, like, countless movies that say that's a bad idea?!"

"well…yes, but at least we're not bringing dinosaurs back to life," Pidge said and hunk nodded.

"Yeah, cause that would be fantastic," Lance rolled his eyes, "lost in space with sentient robots and dinosaurs."

"Either way, you should just avoid the kitchens," hunk said, trying to sound wise, but there was too much laughter in his voice.

"Can I get back to work?" Lance asked, "there's still so much to do before we can leave Olkarion."

"Not until you test fly our-"

Gasps sounded and the trio looked to find Iverson and his cadets. They had just come around the corner and were now whipping out their phones and taking as many pictures as they could.

Lance scowled.

"What's this all about?"

"Ummm," Pidge and Hunk glanced at each other and quickly let go of Lance, "Never mind that, we're sorry…we'll talk later."

They ran off before Lance could say anything else. Lance looked back to the class. Iverson was leading them away, but so many excited faces were turned in his direction.

That was VERY different to how they acted toward him last time.

()

"Allura!" Hunk called walking onto the bridge. She looked up from what she was doing and smiled at him.

"What is it?"

"You didn't tell Lance about the pairing gossip?!"

Allura, her mind still on her work, had to take a moment to understand what Hunk was talking about. Then she remembered that she had been the one to tell Lance about all the rumors they'd found out about. She'd only told him the relevant information; leaving out the pairings everyone was fond of making on the ship.

"…I didn't think that was important," Allura said with a shrug, "why?"

Hunk told her what had happened.

"I forget that there are literally eyes everywhere and we can't goof off like we did before!" Hunk complained, "I mean, all of us are close! If it was you that had been hurt, we'd all hang all over you too!"

"Thanks," Allura said with a chuckle, "And I think this is all just something we'll have to live with. Just do try to remember those eyes and not feed their delusions."

Hunk sighed heavily.

()

Cassy and Jammie sat across from Lance and James. Lance listened to their chatter and didn't join in unless asked a specific question.

Truth be told, he was still really tired. He couldn't seem to get enough sleep even though he often caught himself dozing off in the middle of work!

"Hey, Lance," James asked, "is it true that you're dating Allura?"

Lance scowled, "noooo…not for the lack of trying, mind you, but no, we're not dating."

"I knew it," Cassy said, "She's dating Commander Shiro!"

Lance sat up a little more, "no, she's not doing that either. Why would you think that?"

"They would make such a perfect couple!" Cassy said, "I can't imagine them NOT dating!"

Lance shook his head.

"I wanna know if the rumors are true that Gunderson and Garret are fighting over you," Jamie said with a half grin, "there's a lot of evidence that's been going around about a love triangle between the three of you."

Lance couldn't hide the horrified look that was now plastered all over his face.

"I'll take that as a 'no'," Jamie said.

()

The paladins ate dinner together again and Pidge was practically high on the success of their Spec Pods.

"These are going to give us so many options!" she exclaimed happily. As she continued to rave on her and hunks invention, Lance couldn't help but think about his conversation that afternoon.

Finally, Lance couldn't hold it back any more.

"do you know what they're saying about us in the hangers?!" he shouted, almost hysterical. Hunk coughed on his food and Keith just raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure they say a lot," Allura said, "care to tell us what you heard?"

So Lance repeated the gossip he'd unluckily heard before. As he told them, he observed that his friends were totally unphased by this.

"They've added some more," Shiro sighed.

"More?!"

"Well," Allura said, "remember when I told you we knew about all the horrible rumors that were going around about you?"

"…yeeees?"

"you see, there were also other rumors we picked up as well," she continued, "but I didn't say anything to you then because it wasn't relevant to the point I was trying to make."

Lances jaw dropped.

"How long has-"

"Since we got back," Pidge said shoving food in her mouth, "while we were still trying to defeat Sendak. Humans are fully capable of fighting for their lives and gossiping all at the same time."

"That's both incredible and horrifying all at the same time," Lance said. Everyone agreed.

()

Shiro tapped his foot on the floor.

Lance stared at the tapping foot as he stood, his hands clasped behind his back.

Behind Shiro stood Dr. Reem, a stubborn 'you made me do this' look on his face.

"Well?"

"Yeah," Lance said, his one shoulder shrugging, "I've got nothin'."

"Lance! You said you'd told us everything!"

"I did not say that," Lance said slowly, "I said I told you everything I could. That's different."

"Lance," Shiro growled, arms folded almost menacingly. Lance swallowed hard. He still hadn't come up with a good enough lie. Everything with the Pillons were settling, if he told on Jordan it would send ripples that he wouldn't be able to stop.

"Shiro, do you trust me?" Lance asked.

"Not at this moment," Shiro said, "you lied and I can see your trying to think of a lie."

"True," Lance said grinning to hide his nerves, "but everything is cool, I promise you. The gun isn't on the ship anymore…I made sure of that."

Shiro and Lance locked gazes and finally Shiro had to concede. He trusted Lance to know what he was doing but…

"I wish you would have told us," he said, "this is how all those other problems started in the first place!"

Lances head shrunk slightly into his shoulders, "I know…old habits die really hard. But everything is ok. Cross my black heart."

Shiros mouth twitched upward slightly and Lance knew he'd won.

"You'll tell the others then?" Shiro asked.

"I'll tell them at dinner tonight," Lance said, "You'll be there to make sure I do."

Shiro nodded.

()

That night, everyone took the news just as Lance had figured they would.

"Who shot you?!"

"Guns don't work in space…"

Lance waited for them to quiet down before answering them.

"I'm not going to rat the guy out because I already handled that situation. Its done and over with. If I tell you then it will just kick up a lot of trouble. Trouble I'd really like to avoid. But everything is ok, its fine."

"Its NOT fine!"

Lance rolled his eyes, "alright, its not 'fine', its chill. So don't go heating a matter I've already put on ice!"

They scowled at him and he scowled back…until he couldn't anymore and he broke out into a grin. Seeing his normal, silly expression, the others huffed and the tension ebbed. If Lance was ok, then that was what mattered.

()

Lance sat in his room and flipped through his Communicators storage. Brad had gotten it to him almost two weeks after his encounter with Ryan.

Pictures and short videos of him and the other paladins while it had just been them in the castle. Back when they thought they would never see home again, even as they all hoped they would.

Back then, he had missed home and his family. He had worried that his parents would have to mourn both their sons, and that really wasn't fair at all. But now that they had made it back and things were different…not bad, just different….Lance found himself wishing things could go back to the way they used to be.

Lance laughed to himself.

Things weren't bad. His skin was normal again, you could still see lines, but the skin was still smooth. A little of his sisters foundation would cover that up nicely. Other than being a little narcoleptic, and a shoulder that didn't move as well as it had before, he felt just as good as always.

The Atlas would be taking off tomorrow and Lance felt he had grounded himself well.

((((((FIN))))))))))

AUTHOR NOTE:

HEY ALL! I MADE IT!

50135 WORDS!

Thank you all so much for reading this story! I loved writing it and i LOVED all of your reactions to it!

I will be staring up Song of the Sea again after this. Soltaz might take me a bit longer to bring back to life, but i hope i can get the ideas and flow back for that one (I really like that one).

If Lies is the first of my stories you've read and you've enjoies this story, you'll LOVE the others i have. I am the Langst queen.

Love you all and hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

~Anna


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